Stephen A. Hess

Stephen A. Hess is a distinguished construction lawyer, educator, and scholar with nearly four decades of experience in construction law and litigation. His practice encompasses counseling clients on complex construction matters, litigating disputes, and representing parties in arbitrations and administrative proceedings. He also serves as a neutral in the mediation and arbitration of construction disputes, giving him experience with construction matters from both the advocate and decision-maker perspectives.

Stephen’s construction practice is complemented by extensive academic and scholarly work. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where he created the school’s Construction Law course in 2004 and has taught it since then. He has also made substantial contributions to construction law scholarship through his work writing and editing national construction law treatises and journals, as well as professional treatises addressing Colorado legal practice. This combination of practical, academic, and editorial experience has given him a particularly broad perspective on the development and application of construction law.

His standing in the construction field has been recognized by a number of leading legal organizations and publications. Stephen has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Construction Law and Construction Litigation, recognized by Super Lawyers for Construction Litigation, and included in International Who’s Who of Construction Law, including its Thought Leaders edition. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers , where he is Editor of the Journal of the ACCL, and serves on the American Arbitration Association’s National Roster of Construction Arbitrators.

Alongside his construction practice, Stephen has developed a significant practice in Olympic and international sports law. He advises National Governing Bodies on a broad range of business and sports law matters and counsels associations on sports integrity programs and related issues. His international appointments include serving as Chairman of the Appeals Tribunal for the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation, as well as serving as Chair of the Juridical Committee (and Member of the Dispute Resolution Committee) for World Taekwondo. He has also been recognized by Chambers USA for Sports Law on a nationwide basis.

Stephen earned his J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1987, following an M.A. from Rice University with an emphasis in Philosophy of Science and Mathematical Logic and a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College. He is a member of the Academy of Court Appointed Neutrals, further reflecting the breadth of his professional work across advocacy, scholarship, teaching, arbitration, mediation, and international sports governance.

Stephen has written extensively on construction law and related litigation issues and has presented on construction law topics at seminars, conferences and webinars, as well as Colorado civil litigation and evidence. A complete list of his publications and presentations is available on his professional website.