An alumnus of Wayne State University Law School, Stephen Dunn joined Bodman in 2021 and has 20 years of military service to his credit. At left - Stephen Dunn (right) is pictured at the Army JAG Legal Center in Virginia with Major Joe VanDusen, the son of Bodman partner Tom VanDusen.
By Jeanine Matlow
Legal News
Stephen P. Dunn, a partner with Bodman PLC in Troy, 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. When asked about the challenges and rewards that come with his position, Dunn stated, “I manage complicated challenges, so everything is a challenge. The reward is successfully resolving those challenges.”
Dunn, who is married with five children, 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, North Carolina. Now a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG
Corps, Dunn currently is assigned as team chief at Ft. Snelling, Minnesota.
“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.
“I took leave from Oakland County and went to Ft. Lee, Virginia for U.S. Army JAG initial officer basic training,” says Dunn, who was called to active duty shortly thereafter and ordered to Fort Bragg where he served as a military prosecutor handling courts martial.
After leaving active duty, Dunn worked for 14 years at another law firm before he joined Bodman in 2021. His business is thriving at Bodman, and he appreciates the firm’s leadership, which has supported the continuous expansion of Dunn’s practice.
“While growing and maintaining a robust private practice, I’ve stayed in the Army Reserve and have been attached to all different types of units in the Army, including a military police brigade, a special forces group, and I was deployed overseas,” he says.
Other assignments included a stint as 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 is now in his 20th year of Army service.
The opportunity to serve was not immediately available, but Dunn persisted.
“When I first applied for accession to the Army, I was not selected for active duty. I also applied to law firms throughout Michigan and was not selected for the best positions,” he explains. “When I became an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Oakland County, I was permitted to also pursue service in the U.S. Army Reserve. I fought for the opportunity and the privilege to serve our country.”
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 that his military service also requires extensive travel. “I am also blessed to have married a saint, Elizabeth Dunn, who tolerates the fact that I am typically distracted and working while at home on the weekends and on vacation, essentially always.”
Dunn’s can-do attitude has served him, and his clients, well over the years.
“I am unrelenting, because I have to be and I always will be. Nothing was given to me – except important life lessons from my parents about the virtues of honesty, hard work, faith, and commitment,” says Dunn who 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.
Dunn appreciates where he got his start.
“I loved serving as a prosecutor. It was a great experience and I am very grateful to David Gorcyca for allowing me that opportunity, to Judy Cunningham for making an important introduction, and to John J. Lynch for facilitating,” he says. “Successfully serving as a prosecutor also validated what I had been working to show everyone that I can do. It provided me a platform as a young lawyer to demonstrate that I can effectively advocate for victims, and that everyone who had rejected me was wrong. Relentlessly pursuing the privilege of service as a prosecutor and as an Army officer opened opportunities to serve other clients in different venues, including at Bodman today.”
Legal News
Stephen P. Dunn, a partner with Bodman PLC in Troy, 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. When asked about the challenges and rewards that come with his position, Dunn stated, “I manage complicated challenges, so everything is a challenge. The reward is successfully resolving those challenges.”
Dunn, who is married with five children, 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, North Carolina. Now a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG
Corps, Dunn currently is assigned as team chief at Ft. Snelling, Minnesota.
“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.
“I took leave from Oakland County and went to Ft. Lee, Virginia for U.S. Army JAG initial officer basic training,” says Dunn, who was called to active duty shortly thereafter and ordered to Fort Bragg where he served as a military prosecutor handling courts martial.
After leaving active duty, Dunn worked for 14 years at another law firm before he joined Bodman in 2021. His business is thriving at Bodman, and he appreciates the firm’s leadership, which has supported the continuous expansion of Dunn’s practice.
“While growing and maintaining a robust private practice, I’ve stayed in the Army Reserve and have been attached to all different types of units in the Army, including a military police brigade, a special forces group, and I was deployed overseas,” he says.
Other assignments included a stint as 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 is now in his 20th year of Army service.
The opportunity to serve was not immediately available, but Dunn persisted.
“When I first applied for accession to the Army, I was not selected for active duty. I also applied to law firms throughout Michigan and was not selected for the best positions,” he explains. “When I became an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Oakland County, I was permitted to also pursue service in the U.S. Army Reserve. I fought for the opportunity and the privilege to serve our country.”
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 that his military service also requires extensive travel. “I am also blessed to have married a saint, Elizabeth Dunn, who tolerates the fact that I am typically distracted and working while at home on the weekends and on vacation, essentially always.”
Dunn’s can-do attitude has served him, and his clients, well over the years.
“I am unrelenting, because I have to be and I always will be. Nothing was given to me – except important life lessons from my parents about the virtues of honesty, hard work, faith, and commitment,” says Dunn who 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.
Dunn appreciates where he got his start.
“I loved serving as a prosecutor. It was a great experience and I am very grateful to David Gorcyca for allowing me that opportunity, to Judy Cunningham for making an important introduction, and to John J. Lynch for facilitating,” he says. “Successfully serving as a prosecutor also validated what I had been working to show everyone that I can do. It provided me a platform as a young lawyer to demonstrate that I can effectively advocate for victims, and that everyone who had rejected me was wrong. Relentlessly pursuing the privilege of service as a prosecutor and as an Army officer opened opportunities to serve other clients in different venues, including at Bodman today.”
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