KC attorney Steve Owens named U of Missouri general counsel

Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press, Oct 8, 2007

The University of Missouri on Friday named Kansas City attorney Stephen J. Owens as the university system's next general counsel.

Owens, currently a partner with Stinson Morrison Hecker's Kansas City office, is expected to start in the position in January. The general counsel provides legal advice and representation for the University of Missouri system. The university said Owens would be paid $290,000, plus benefits and incentives.

"I have been privileged to work with an amazing group of attorneys and staff for more than 25 years," Owens said in a statement. "I believe my legal and administrative experience with the firm will serve me well in my new role. This was a unique opportunity for me, and I appreciate the support that I am receiving from my fellow attorneys as I make this transition."

Owens could not be reached for further comment.

"Steve has a deep love for our institution, devotion to its great missions and familiarity with our legal operations and responsibilities," Board of Curators Chairman Don Walsworth, of Marceline, said in a separate release. "He will provide confident and effective guidance to the Board of Curators and the university administration as general counsel."

Owens' law firm congratulated him.

"As an alumnus of Missouri, I am proud that a Stinson partner has been selected to serve the University in this role," said Mark Foster, Stinson Morrison Hecker's managing partner. "I remember his first day with the firm and have had the pleasure of watching him develop into one of the finest lawyers in this region. Steve has contributed greatly to the firm, and while we will certainly miss him, we wish him the best in his new role."

Owens will continue to practice with the firm until Jan. 21 and will begin his new role the following day.

Owens has served as chairman of the firm's Class Action and Complex Litigation Division. He also has functioned as the firm's hiring chairman and as a member of the firm's board of directors and its executive committee.

His business practice includes general business litigation, employment agreements, trade secrets, non-competition agreements and multi-party complex litigation, as well as sports law. He has previously worked as outside counsel for the University of Missouri and other institutions and is designated "preferred counsel" by the Womens' Basketball Coaches Association.

Owens is a 1977 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and was the third generation of his family to attend the university. He earned his law degree from Wake Forest University in 1980 and served as a judicial law clerk to U.S. District Judge William R. Collinson in Missouri's Western District.

Owens succeeds Marvin E. "Bunky" Wright, who retires at the end of the year. Wright, a former president of the Missouri Bar, has been general counsel since 1998.

"For nearly a decade, Bunky Wright has been a most trusted advisor and wise counselor to the University of Missouri, the Board of Curators and the top administrative leadership," Walsworth said.