After 37 years as a practicing attorney, Steven stepped down as a partner at his law firm to go Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where -- in addition to pursuing his theological studies -- he was trained as an interfaith hospital chaplain. He ultimately received his Masters of Divinity Degree from Union in 2025. In addition to his part time work as an interfaith hospital chaplain and his continuing legal work, he serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Center of New York and supports on a pro bono basis the work of the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing in New York City.
Now, as one of the founding members of the Society for Earth Law (SOEL), he is committed to bringing together his interfaith and theological experience with his legal career to help build a true Jurisprudence of Reverence and a Politics of Compassion that can support a society-wide movement which, in turn, can call for fundamental legal, political, and economic change. This movement, as spearheaded by SOEL, embraces the fact – often ignored and often vehemently denied – that we are one human family, which is an integral part of the community of all life on our planet. Looking to create a hierarchy of values that places compassion, reverence and love as our highest and dearest ideals, the goal of the movement is to develop practical and effective strategies (legal, political, economic and social) to heal our often cruel and destructive relationships with each other and with all of the natural world.
