Legal News
Stephen P. Dunn, a partner with Bodman, did not have to look far for inspiration.
“My father had a career as an attorney. Growing up around his practice for so many years taught me about the practice and really inspired me to want to do the same thing and to help people. That is why I wanted to go to law school,” says Dunn who earned his law degree in 2005 from Wayne State University Law School.
At Bodman, Dunn primarily serves as outside general counsel to businesses and advises owners on legal and business matters. He also serves in the military and is an entrepreneur.
“Each situation I’m working on requires focus, but also efficiency, so I just do the best I can to prepare and to decisively manage and handle everything that the day requires,” he says.
Prior to entering private practice, Dunn served on active duty in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, including as a trial counsel at XVIII Airborne Corps, Ft. Bragg, N.C. Now a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps, he is assigned as team chief at Ft. Snelling, Minn.
“For many years, I was embedded in active duty high-intensity units – special forces included – that required active involvement,” he says.
For Dunn, corporate and military clients have some commonalities.
“An Army commander leads an organization just like a business executive does, and while he may be wearing a different uniform, he faces a lot of the same challenges,” he explains. “There is a different legal framework in the Army, but there are substantial similarities in general.”
The events on September 11, 2001 profoundly impacted Dunn.
“I was studying abroad in Ireland during my senior year in college and witnessed on television, like everyone else, the terrorist attacks on our country,” he recalls.
“I remember distinctly calling home to my father to ask what had happened and what can I do. He wisely counselled me to stay the course, finish college and law school, and then look for a way to help.”
When Dunn completed law school and became an Assistant Prosecutor in Oakland County, he also was commissioned as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve. He took leave from Oakland County and went to Ft. Lee, Va., for U.S. Army JAG initial officer basic training, and was called to active duty shortly thereafter and served at Ft. Bragg as a military prosecutor handling courts martial.
After leaving active duty, Dunn worked for 14 years at a law firm before joining Bodman in 2021. While maintaining a robust private practice, he has stayed in the Army Reserve, attached to different types of units, including a military police brigade, a special forces group, and was deployed overseas.
Other assignments included Command Judge Advocate with Naval Special Warfare Group Three, an Army psychological operations group, an Army engineer brigade, a civil affairs command, and U.S. Special Operations Command.
Dunn, who graduated magna cum laude from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, fully devotes himself to his professional endeavors.
“I work relentlessly for my clients, and I have numerous business interactions and involvements that require my attention and participation, including my Army duties,” he says, noting his military service also requires extensive travel.
Dunn, now in his 20th year of Army service, also co-owns Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc., a leading publisher of aviation training materials and distributor of essential pilot supplies with his brother-in-law and business partner, Greg Robbins.
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