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Steve is a business-focused attorney with broad knowledge of branding, advertising and marketing topics, including agency work, content syndication, licensing, and sponsored content in print, broadcast, social and OTT media. Steve also helps clients with controlled substances licensing and transactions in commercial real estate.. Steve holds a JD with a concentration in intellectual property from the University of Oregon School of Law and a B.S. in biology from the California Institute of Technology.

I love to help people solve legal problems, and even better, prevent problems. My practice includes real estate, landlord representation, evictions, manufactured housing law, wills and trusts, estate planning and administration, probate, guardianships, business planning, and general civil litigation. I focus on resolving matters without litigation when possible, but when necessary I go to bat in court for my clients. I pride myself on providing excellent customer service to my clients. Unlike the larger firms, my clients work with me directly from the first phone call to the last meeting.

Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I graduated from the University of Michigan and then served in the U.S. Army. While serving in the Army,  I also graduated from the Defense Language Institute and worked at the Army's Freedom of Information Center in Washington D.C. Later I  graduated from Detroit College of Law, now known as Michigan State University College of Law, and began working at a respected law firm which specialized in civil litigation and trial work. A short time later, I was made partner and continued to handle a variety of court cases at both the trial and appellate level, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. My areas of practice included commercial and business litigation, personal injury, wrongful death, product liability, employment law, labor negotiations and real estate. I also participated as a hearing officer for alternative dispute resolution forums and mediation hearings.. Since starting my own law firm in 2002, I have continued to provide top quality litigation and trial work for clients, along with real estate, probate and estate planning services.

I devote my practice to advising and representing individuals, businesses, and associations in the broad spectrum of real estate and property matters, as well as corporate issues, and counseling and representing families and individuals in matters of wills, estates, and trusts. I have extensive experience working with and assisting a variety of clients, including property owners and entrepreneurs; buyers, sellers and developers of property; corporations and LLCs; condominium and homeowner associations; and big families, young couples, and empty nesters. I have presented at seminars and authored numerous articles, including a piece on condominium association boards which appeared in Michigan Real Property Review, the official journal of the State Bar’s Real Property Law Section.. A native of Coloma, Michigan, I am still remembered in Southwest Michigan for having represented the University of Notre Dame on the Jeopardy! College Championship. After graduating magna cum laude from Notre Dame, I earned my law degree at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C, where I served on the editorial staff of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics. I practiced law in both the public and private sectors for nearly a decade in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, and have been in private practice in Michigan since 2007.  I was honored to be named a Rising Star among Michigan lawyers by Super Lawyers Magazine in both 2012 and 2013, and was privileged to be a candidate for Berrien County District Court Judge in 2014.  A local history buff, I have twice been published in Michigan History Magazine.. Service to the community in which I was raised, and in which I now raise my family, is very important to me. I serve on the Berrien County Land Bank Authority and the boards of directors of the Berrien County Historical Association and the Berrien Artist Guild, and am an associate director of Honor Credit Union and a proud member of the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor Rotary Club.  I am also a former member of the Lakeshore and Four Flags Chambers of Commerce, Lest We Forget, and the Southwest Michigan Home Builders Association, have previously served on the board of directors of Emergency Shelter Services and the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra's Development Committee, and was honored to serve as chairman of the Citadel Dance & Music Center.