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I moved from Arkansas to Michigan in 1985 upon graduation from law school. I have been married 19+ years to my wonderful wife Chris. We have 5 children, although when they are running around and screaming, it seems like more. I am an Apple Macintosh computer fanatic (I own 12 of them), a converted Catholic, a Boy Scouter, a gardener, a Pink Floyd fan, and a camper. My avocation is photography. For the more prosaic aspects of my professional life, please follow the links below or scroll down the page.
Vanderbilt University 1978-82; B.A. in Mathematics and Psychology (double major).
University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law 1982-85; J.D.; Assistant Survey Editor for UALR Law Review.
Opened office as a solo practitioner in August, 1997. Practice limited to real estate and creditors rights, including community association law, eviction, mortgage foreclosure, land contract forfeiture, construction lien foreclosure, and quiet title actions. Clients include Unizan Bank, Wachovia SBA Lending, B&B Group, LLP.
Joined Shapiro & Alt, the Michigan office of the LOGS Legal Network, as an associate attorney in 1993. Sole full-time attorney responsible for a case load of 1400 files. Represented the mortgage industry primarily in mortgage foreclosures, land contract forfeitures, evictions, and bankruptcy. Clients included Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation, Fleet Mortgage Group, First Union Mortgage Corporation.
Associate attorney with Law Office of D. Douglas Alexander 1985-1993, representing community associations, landlords, and construction lien claimants. Clients included Michigan Caterpillar, William H. Kelly Company, 5000 Town Center (Prudential Insurance Company of America), over 175 condominium associations.
Clerked for Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Jackson & Tucker, the 4th largest law firm in Arkansas. I turned down an Arkansas Supreme Court clerkship to move to Michigan upon graduation from law school. (My mother cried!).
Publications are now found on a separate page.
What to Do When the Community Member Files Bankruptcy. 1-1/2 hour lecture at the Community Associations Institute 44th National Conference, Austin TX, April 24, 1998.
Collection of Assessments, 20-minute speech at the CAI-Michigan monthly meeting, September 24, 1998.
What Every Probate Attorney Should Know About Real Estate Law, 30 minute lecture at the Macomb County Probate Bar Association meeting, September 25, 1998.
Moderator of a panel of three attorneys and one property manager discussing proposed amendments to the Michigan Condominium Act, sponsored by CAI-Michigan, April 28, 1999.
Getting Your Money: collection of community association assessments. Lecture/presentation at the CAI-Michigan First Annual Conference and Trade Show, November 11-12, 1999.
Board Responsibilities and Liabilities, Lecture/presentation jointly with Jon Stevens at the CAI Michigan Second Annual Conference and Trade Show, March 2001. The handout from the presentation as well as the follow-up article published in the CAI Newsletter are available for viewing.
Tapping your Reserves: When and How, lecture/presentation jointly with Reserve Advisors, Inc. on when and how to tap into a community association's reserves at the CAI Michigan Fourth Annual Conference and Trade Show, 2003.
Provided testimony before the National Bankruptcy Review Commission on proposed amendments to the "Fairness to Condominiums and Cooperatives" provision of the Bankruptcy Code, Detroit, MI July 27, 1997.
Volunteer Consumer Arbitrator for the Southeast Michigan Better Business Bureau from 1985 to 1986. Resolution of consumer complaints, primarily automotive claims.
Volunteer lawyer for Oakland County Bar Association, 1987 to 1997. Participated in the "Meet the Lawyer program rendering free legal advice to consumers during Law Day in May of each year.
Volunteer lawyer at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, April, 1998, to November, 2001. Rendering free legal advice to patrons of the soup kitchen on poverty law issues.
Committee Chair, Troop 472, Clinton Twp., Michigan, January 2003 to January 2005. You haven't lived until you've camped with 15 teenaged boys.
Member of the State Bar of Michigan Committee proposing changes to the Michigan Condominium Act, 1997-2001.
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Copyright 1997-2005 by Steve Sowell