An experienced, AOC-certified mediator and a trial lawyer for more than 40 years, Steve applies the wealth of litigation experience he’s acquired over the course of his legal career to help settle disputes in Kentucky and regionally. He mediates in numerous areas of the law, including but not limited to employment, business, personal injury, and domestic relations.
Steve has been defending public and private employers, higher education institutions, and K-12 school districts and school boards for over four decades. Steve’s practiced counsel has been instrumental in helping employers, universities, colleges and schools navigate numerous high-profile legal challenges. He has served as a special investigator of employee misconduct when circumstances required the investigation be handled by an outside party.
His successes in these areas of the law have not gone unnoticed—he is the 2025 Lexington Mediation “Lawyer of the Year,” and a six-time Best Lawyers in America® Lexington Employment “Lawyer of the Year.” Steve attended Advanced Attorney-Mediator Training through the Association of Attorney Mediators multiple times, and has been inducted into the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.
Steve was recognized with the 2011 Henry T. Duncan Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Fayette County Bar Association, to recognize annually a member of the bar whose integrity, leadership and professional conduct exemplifies the high ethical and professional standards that benefit the community.
PRACTICE GROUPS
- Education Law
- Employment Law
- Mediation & Arbitration
EDUCATION
- University of Tennessee, B.S. (1972)
- University of Kentucky, J.D. (1975)
- Order of the Coif
- Kentucky Law Journal
COURT ADMISSIONS
- Kentucky
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky
DISTINCTIONS
- Kentucky Super Lawyers (2007-Present), Schools & Education, Employment Litigation: Defense
- Best Lawyers in America, Lexington Labor and Employment Litigation “Lawyer of the Year” (2024)
- Fayette County Bar Association, Henry T. Duncan Award (2011)
- Best Lawyers in America (2001-Present), Employment Law - Individuals; Employment Law - Management; Litigation - Labor & Employment; Mediation
- Kentucky Labor Letter, Editorial Board (1999-2001)
- CLE lecturer and author on litigation, employment law, education law and mediation topics
MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS
- Fayette County Bar Association
- Fayette County Bar Association, President (2003-04)
- Kentucky Bar Association
- Kentucky Bar Association Inquiry Commission (2005-Present)
- Kentucky Bar Association House of Delegates (1986-92)
- American Bar Association, Employment Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections
- Defense Research Institute
- National Association of College and University Attorneys, Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, Co-Chair (1998-2000)
- Litigation Counsel of America
COMMUNITY & CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
- Fayette County Legal Aid, Director (1984-2009)
- Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Ethics Commission, Member (1999-2003)
- Fayette County Law Library Trustee (2003-Present)
- University of Kentucky College of Law, Lafferty Society