Stephen is a native of Austin, Texas, where he initially pursued the arts and worked as a graphic designer and sound editor in the North Dallas area. However, in 2007, Stephen moved to Chicago just in time to experience the economic crisis and was confronted with the very real issues of poverty and the impact of debt and disability, resulting in his pursuit of a legal education. During law school, Stephen supported himself by working full-time as a bartender while also focusing his education in the areas of public interest and healthcare law, as well as volunteering for multiple legal aid projects and serving as an officer in the American Constitution Society. He worked at the school’s legal clinic in the areas of debt relief, vaccine injury and Social Security disability, subsequently bringing his experiences in those areas to his practice where he began representing disability clients in 2014. He now concentrates exclusively in the area of Social Security disability.

Stephen has extensive experience at both the administrative and federal court levels of review, representing clients in hundreds of hearings, briefing cases at the district court level within every Appellate Circuit outside of the D.C. Circuit, as well as arguing cases in front of both the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuit Appellate Courts. He has participated in speaking engagements for numerous organizations, was the 2019-2020 chair of the Chicago Bar Association's Social Security Committee, serves as the co-chair of NOSSCR’s NextGen Committee and has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star every year since 2018.

Social Security Disability
Appellate

Illinois – 2015
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit – 2018
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit – 2019
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit – 2024
U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois – 2022
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois – 2017
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana – 2018
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin – 2023
U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin – 2018

Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D. – 2015
University of North Texas, B.F.A. and B.A. 2007

Chicago Bar Association - 2018, 2019
National Associate of Disability Representatives (NADR) - 2019
National Organization of Social Security Claimant's Representatives (NOSSCR) Annual Conference - 2022, 2023
National Organization of Social Security Claimant's Representatives (NOSSCR) NextGen Conference - 2022, 2023
National Business Institute - 2022
North Carolina Advocates of Justice - 2023