About Stephen
Stephen Cowen built a layered legal education before entering practice. He earned an A.B. in Government from Harvard in 2003, followed by a J.D. from the University of Chicago in 2006. Years later he returned to Chicago to complete an MBA at the Booth School of Business in 2017, concentrating in finance and accounting. The combination of law and business training surfaces regularly in his work.
He began his legal career in the federal clerkship pipeline. After law school he served as a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2006, and then to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007. Those early years offered repeated exposure to appellate argument and opinion drafting.
Cowen moved into private practice soon after his clerkships. He joined Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP as a partner in 2008, where he worked on trial and appellate matters. The role broadened his litigation experience and provided a foundation for later in-house and leadership positions.
In 2012 his career branched into both academia and business leadership. He served as Co-CEO of The Zosima Group the same year he took on a teaching post as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. The split between managing a company and teaching law illustrates how he balances practice, strategy and instruction.
He spent time in industry legal practice as senior counsel at Boeing in 2014, handling matters for a large corporate legal department. In 2017 he joined Jones Day as a partner, a role he holds today. Across private firm and in-house roles he has worked on commercial disputes, appellate filings and regulatory matters.
Cowen holds admissions in multiple forums. He is a member of the Michigan and New York bars, and is admitted to practice before the Federal Circuit, the 6th Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. His practice draws on courtroom experience, appellate writing and the financial background from his MBA.
At Jones Day he handles complex commercial litigation and appellate matters. His current practice focuses on trial and appellate work in federal and state courts, and on counseling clients on litigation strategy.
