Steve is an active leader in the national media law bar. He is the Chair-Elect of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Communications Law, previously served as a co-editor of its journal Communications Lawyer, and has chaired several other committees within the ABA and in the Media Law Resource Center. Steve is a prolific writer on media law issues and is frequently called upon to speak on First Amendment and newsgathering issues. In 2010, he was a featured speaker at the annual conference of Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Steve has taught mass media at the University of Colorado and cyber law at the University of Denver’s Strum College of Law.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Steve was a freelance documentary producer, affiliated with the public television station in San Francisco. Steve began his legal career by serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Dorothy W. Nelson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He then joined the Denver office of Faegre & Benson, where he was a partner, before he joined LSKS when it opened its Colorado office in 2007.

Notable Representations

Bustos v. A & E Television Networks, 646 F.3d 762 (10th Cir. 2011). Steve and Tom Kelley successfully represented A&E Television Networks in obtaining summary judgment on libel claims premised on the Gangland: Aryan Brotherhood program. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit affirmed, ruling that calling the plaintiff a member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang when he "merely conspired with the Brotherhood in a criminal enterprise" is not actionable because it is substantially true. 

Spacecon Specialty Contractors v. Bensinger, 789 F. Supp. 2d 1194 (D. Colo. 2011). Steve and Tom Kelley successfully defended a documentary filmmaker in obtaining summary judgment on plaintiff's defamation claim on lack of actual malice grounds.

Xteriors, Inc. v. Kavanaugh (Ill. Cir. Ct. Jan. 7, 2011). Steve and Lee Levine successfully represented a Chicago television station in obtaining dismissal, under the Illinois anti-SLAPP statute, of libel claims premised on an investigative report that focused on the business practices of the plaintiff’s company. The court found that the defendants’ speech was immune from suit because it was “genuinely aimed at procuring favorable government action.”

Harris v. Denver Post Corp., 123 P.3d 1166 (Colo. 2005). Steve successfully argued to the Colorado Supreme Court that the private journals and video recordings of the Columbine killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were “criminal justice records” subject to inspection and copying under state law, because they were confiscated by the Sheriff and thereafter used in the investigation of the crimes perpetrated at Columbine High School.

People v. Perrish Cox, 39 Media L. Rptr. 2148 (Colo. Dist. Ct. Douglas Cty. June 22, 2011). Steve and Michael Beylkin represented Associated Press and The Denver Post in obtaining an order unsealing the redacted arrest warrant affidavit for a Denver Broncos football player charged with sexual assault. The court rejected the accused’s argument that the media lacked standing to intervene and held that the First Amendment right to inspect judicial records was not outweighed by competing interests.