Stephen Cowen has extensive experience as both outside and in-house counsel advancing the interests of clients in cutting edge industries on strategic and bet-the-company matters. He represents clients in high-stakes trials and appeals; complex business, accounting, and intellectual property disputes; and internal and government investigations involving highly sensitive topics and crisis management. In representing clients in these matters, he routinely counsels and presents to senior management and boards of directors.
As a former senior counsel in The Boeing Company's law department, Stephen held a wide range of responsibilities. He served as the lead lawyer for Boeing's HorizonX innovation and venture capital unit, where he advised on investments in artificial intelligence, mobility, and autonomous technologies. He also managed litigation and investigations across the aviation, defense, space, and cyber sectors, as well as global supply chains. Prior to Boeing, Stephen was in private practice at a law firm in Chicago, where his clients included pharmaceutical, medical device, life science, health care, tech, finance, and manufacturing enterprises across a wide range of matters that included complex business disputes and mass torts.
Prior to entering private practice, Stephen clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Douglas Ginsburg at the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit. A former intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, Stephen deployed to Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. Since 2012, he has taught a seminar at the University of Chicago Law School on constitutional law relating to national security.
Experience
Additional Speaking Engagements
- January 29, 2019
Navigating High-Profile Disputes with Company Executives: Key Decision Points for In-House Counsel
- The University of Chicago (J.D. with high honors 2006; Order of the Coif; Editor-in-Chief, Law Review; John M. Olin Student Fellow in Law and Economics; M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting 2017); Harvard University (A.B. in Government magna cum laude 2003)
- Michigan, New York, District of Columbia, U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Federal Circuits, and U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan and the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. Navy Reserve (2010-2018)
- Law Clerk to: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Supreme Court of the United States (2007-2008) and Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (2006-2007)