Christine Stephens, ’94,
is a Champion for Children

Driven by a desire to help the youngest members of society,
she’s dedicated herself to the practice of family law.


BY PATRICIA MAJHER

Christine Stephens

Christine Stephens was drawn to the practice of the law at an early age. “I made the decision in high school,” she explains, “after being involved in moot courts. I was always interested in fighting for the underdog.”

	George E. Ruehle, Class of 1902

After earning a BA at Michigan State University in Justice, Morality, and Constitutional Democracy, she picked DCL as her law school of choice. “My great-grandfather [George E. Ruehle, Class of 1902] was one of the college’s first graduates,” she notes with pride.

Her tenure at DCL was marked by a deep commitment to women’s issues. Not only did she serve as president of the Women’s Law Caucus and edit its newsletter, but she also received the Julia D. Darlow Outstanding Woman Law Student Award. She was honored with the William P. Finch Trial Advocacy Award as well.

After graduation, she accepted an offer from Secrest Wardle of Farmington Hills, Michigan, and spent six years there in defense of personal injury cases and contract disputes. “The firm had an amazing mentor program,” Stephens notes. She was paired with an attorney with 20 years of experience who taught Stephens everything she knows about file management practices. “They also put on workshops for new attorneys and conducted mock trials,” she adds. “I credit them with giving me the confidence to start my own firm.”

As the millennium changed, so did Stephens. She rekindled a friendship with a high school friend—Phoebe Moore—and together the two decided to strike out on their own.

The law firm of Stephens and Moore is the result. From their offices in Oxford and Caro, Michigan, the two women have developed a practice that involves about 70 percent family law and 30 percent real estate and collections. “I also still do some personal injury work,” she added, “though now I work for the plaintiffs.”

It’s working for and with children, though, that gives her the greatest satisfaction: “Kids are the most important thing.”

“In the best interests of the children.” Many people claim they are motivated by that phrase. But Christine Stephens lives it—in her work as an attorney specializing in family law and as a court-appointed advocate for children’s rights in Michigan’s Oakland and Tuscola counties.

And, sometimes, parents forget that important point. As Stephens says, “when they’re at odds with each other, the desire to win sometimes overrides what’s best for their children.”

When representing a mother or a father in a child custody case, Stephens tries hard to make sure that doesn’t happen. In her work as a guardian ad litem for Oakland and Tuscola counties, she can have an even greater impact: her prescribed role is to represent minor-age children in abuse and divorce cases. “I give them a voice in the proceedings,” she explains.

Stephens attributes her focus on family law to two things: her own experiences as a wife and mother of two children and a family law class taught by DCL Professor John Schafer. “He made it appealing,” she says. “He was out in the field practicing that kind of law, and he related his real-life experiences.”

Another professor who had an impact on Stephens’s career was Cynthia Stephens (no relation), a Wayne County Circuit Court judge: “Judge Stephens taught a class on trial advocacy. She let us practice on cases from her past dockets—from discovery to trial preparation to trying the case before her. It was great experience.”

In an interesting twist of fate, Stephens recently had an opportunity to argue a current case before Judge Stephens. “And she remembered me from 10 years back,” she notes, with a little surprise.

It would seem hard, though, to forget such a competent, caring attorney and advocate for the rights of the youngest members of our society.