November 17, 2006

Cooley Law School Announces Winner of 2006 Adjunct Award

Lansing attorney Steven Owen

Lansing attorney Steven Owen has been named the winner of the Frederick J. Griffith Adjunct Faculty Award at Cooley Law School. Professor Owen has taught elective courses at Cooley since 1990, including Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mortgages & Land Contracts, and Modern Real Estate Transactions.

The Frederick J. Griffith Adjunct Faculty Award was established in 1997 to recognize the contributions of Cooley adjunct professors to the mission of the law school. The award was created to honor the memory of the late Frederick J. Griffith, a former adjunct professor at Cooley. The award was funded by contributions made in his memory by the family, friends, and associates of Professor Griffith.

The award carries with it a cash award and a memento acknowledging the recipient’s selection. Instead of the common framed certificate, the memento is a commemorative ceramic tile, which was specifically commissioned, designed, and produced for this award by Detroit’s renowned Pewabic Pottery.

The award recognizes that member of the adjunct faculty whose service best reflects the character and attributes of Professor Griffith: Dedication to the law school; excellence in teaching; passion for persuasive advocacy; compassion for law students; and optimism about life and the future of legal education.

Emeritus Professor Otto Stockmeyer indicated that the award fits in directly with Cooley’s objectives. "Our mission is practical legal education. Who could be better at imparting legal education with a practical orientation than practicing lawyers and sitting judges who teach elective courses in their specific fields of law and practice? Our cadre of adjunct professors is an invaluable resource for our students and our institution. Therefore, it is altogether fitting and proper that we pay tribute to our adjuncts by honoring one of their number at this occasion each holiday season."

Professor Owen is a 1973 graduate of Michigan State University and graduated from the Notre Dame Law School in 1976. He is a shareholder in Lansing’s largest law firm, Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith, P.C. He has also been a partner in a much smaller firm, Shram, Behan & Owen, and was Development Director and General Counsel for Granger Planning and Development, L.L.C.

His fields of practice include commercial loan transactions, financial institution operations and regulation, general real estate law, and estate planning. Outside of the practice of law, Mr. Owen has served over the past 25 years on the elder board and other committees of Trinity Church in Lansing. He and his wife Jayne serve on the board of directors of Love & Respect Ministries, a marriage ministry headquartered in Grand Rapids.

Previous recipients of the Griffith Award are: Rick Griffith (posthumously), Robert Stocker, Eugene Krasicki, Karen Bush Schneider, Judge Randy Tahvonen, Michael Behan, Andrew Quinn, Janice Cunningham, and Donald Hinkle.

The recipients represent a diverse group. Included on the roster are big-firm and small-firm attorneys, Assistant Attorneys General, and a Circuit Court Judge. Women are represented, as are African Americans. One is a Cooley Law School alumna.

The Griffith Award Selection Committee consists of Associate Deans Chuck Cercone and William Weiner, and Professors Charles Palmer, Ernest Phillips, Otto Stockmeyer, and Ann Wing. Significantly, all of the professors on the selection committee served as adjunct professors at one time or another in the law school’s history.

Student reviews of Professor Owen and his class are very positive: "The best course I’ve had in law school," "Most enjoyable class I have had in law school," "It is helpful to have a practicing attorney teach a skills course such as this. Professor Owen’s use of personal examples and real-life situations brings ‘life’ to the concepts being presented."

In such classes as Mortgages & Land Contracts, he appeals to all levels of experience in the field. One student said, "He conveyed the material so well that even a non-homeowner like myself was able to understand it," whereas a classmate exclaimed, "I have been in the business for years, and I learned a ton!"

Professor Owen also wins acclaim for his interpersonal skills. Students have referred to him as a "peaceful and accommodating teacher."

Founded in 1972, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country. Cooley has three campuses across Michigan in downtown Lansing, downtown Grand Rapids in west Michigan, and at Rochester/Oakland University in southeast Michigan. In addition to the juris doctor program, students at Cooley can also pursue an LL.M. in Tax or Intellectual Property.