[1] In 1933, he moved to Washington, D.C. to become the first Assistant Attorney General in charge of the newly established Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice.

[1] Stephens was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 23, 1935, to an Associate Justice seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from June 25, 1948) vacated by Associate Justice William Hitz.

Following the death of Justice Cardozo in 1938, Stephens was considered by President Roosevelt as a possible replacement,[3] although the seat ultimately went to Felix Frankfurter.

[1] Stephens was nominated by President Harry S. Truman on February 2, 1948, to the Chief Justice seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated by Judge Duncan Lawrence Groner.

Stephens was reassigned by operation of law to the newly renamed United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on September 1, 1948, to a new Judge seat authorized by 62 Stat.