Stephen Stein

Stephen Stein was a longtime criminal defense attorney whose career spanned the East Coast and several decades in Las Vegas. Born in Brooklyn, he graduated high school at age 15, enlisted in the Navy at 18, and served in Vietnam. He went on to work as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York and Philadelphia before building his legal practice in Southern Nevada.

In Las Vegas, Stein became a partner in the law firm of Oscar Goodman, the noted defense attorney who later served as mayor of the city. In 1999 he founded the Law Office of Stein and Rojas with partner Luis Rojas, a partnership that continued until 2015. Among his notable work was the 1989 acquittal of Howard Lee Haupt, who had been charged in the death of 7-year-old Alexander Harris.

Stein was widely respected across the Nevada legal community. Former partner Oscar Goodman recalled, 'Even though we were on opposite sides, I developed respect for him,' while Luis Rojas remembered him as 'a great attorney ... a beautiful person.' Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson described him as 'one of the best attorneys around.' He died on July 20, 2022, at the age of 78.