California & Nevada Licensed / National Reach
Stephenson Law, PLLC
Selective representation for complex litigation, appeals, and strategic legal counsel.
A boutique law practice for high-consequence matters requiring investigation, judgment, preparation, real-world instincts, and calm under pressure.
Stephenson Law is a low-volume practice. Some years it takes on a client or two. Others not. The firm is deliberately selective, serving clients and co-counsel in matters where careful analysis, practical strategy, and direct attorney attention matter.
Profile
John Neil Stephenson is a trial and appellate attorney licensed in California and Nevada. His work often extends beyond those jurisdictions through co-counsel relationships, national matters, and pro hac vice admissions where appropriate. His experience spans complex business disputes, insurance coverage litigation, serious personal injury, criminal defense, appellate work, and strategic counsel for companies and individuals.
Before founding Stephenson Law, John practiced with national and regional firms in the Bay Area and Las Vegas, including Selman Breitman and Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith. His judicial experience includes a clerkship to Chief Justice Mark Gibbons of the Nevada Supreme Court, an externship with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and an externship with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.
John is also technologically fluent, with a practical understanding of how modern tools, data, and systems shape business risk, litigation strategy, and decision-making.
Selected Experience
John has handled matters across trial courts, appellate courts, and business settings, including high-stakes civil litigation, federal criminal trial work, insurance coverage and bad-faith disputes, complex injury matters, corporate disputes, real estate and investment-related issues, and outside general counsel work.
His reported appellate work includes Richard Pike v. J. Brad Hester, Elko County et al., 891 F.3d 1131 (9th Cir. 2018), a successful Ninth Circuit appeal affirming partial summary judgment in a federal civil rights matter arising from an unlawful search. The decision has become a widely cited authority, with more than 40 citing references across federal and state courts and legal scholarship.
Formation
John earned his J.D. from Southwestern Law School, where he ranked first in his class after his second year and graduated near the top of his class while working nearly full time, serving on law review, and externing with the Ninth Circuit. He earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his studies also took him to the University of Glasgow and Beijing Foreign Studies University. He has also taught political science at Great Basin College.
His broader formation includes international travel, diplomacy, economics, Eastern philosophy, yoga, and martial strategy. In 2025, John was awarded the title of "samurai" by Sensei Zen Takai, a 16th-generation samurai from Japan. He has also completed two yoga teacher trainings.
Perspective
See clearly. Act deliberately.
Legal disputes involve timing, leverage, reputation, business risk, human pressure, and judgment under uncertainty. Stephenson Law approaches those problems with a disciplined eye toward strategy, proportion, and the client's real-world objective.
Contact
John Neil Stephenson
Managing Member