Stephen L. Pepper, Professor of Law at the University of Denver College of Law, has published well-known law review articles on lawyers’ ethics and on the subject of freedom of religion under the First Amendment. Several of his articles on lawyers’ ethics have been included in casebooks and in edited collections of essays. His essay on the underlying theory of the ethical relation between lawyer and client won the Association of American Law Schools’ 1985 Scholarly Papers competition, and his article on lawyers’ ethics and the counseling of clients was the lead article in the May 1995 issue of the Yale Law Journal. A subsequent article, titled “Lawyers’ Ethics in the Gap Between Law and Justice,” deals with counseling clients when lawful conduct may also be ethically problematic. His most recent work is a book chapter providing practical guidance to working executives and professionals on ethics and the exercise of moral vision.

Professor Pepper graduated from Stanford University “with great distinction.” His law degree is from Yale Law School, where he won first place in the Thurman Arnold appellate advocacy competition and was a finalist in the Cardozo brief writing competition. He practiced for four years with the Denver firm of Holland & Hart.

Professor Pepper has given presentations on lawyers’ ethics and on the First Amendment at numerous academic conferences and meetings of practicing lawyers. He regularly teaches the first-year Torts course, the required Legal Profession course, and a seminar on professional ethics. The students at the College of Law have selected him “Professor of the Year” four times.

Featured Publications

• The Lawyer Knows More Than the Law, 90 Texas Law Review 691 (2012).
• Integrating Morality and Law in Legal Practice: A Reply to Professor Simon, 23 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 1011, (2010).
• How to do the Right Thing: A Short Primer on Ethics and Moral Vision,” in Good Business: Exercising Effective and Ethical Leadership, Donald Mayer, James O’Toole, eds. (Routledge, 2010).
• Counseling at the Limits of the Law: An Exercise in the Jurisprudence and Ethics of Lawering, 104 Yale L.J. 1545 (1995).
• The Lawyer's Amoral Ethical Role: A Defense, A Problem, and Some Possibilities, 1986 American Bar Foundation Research Journal 613-635.