Howard Kevin Stern – often referred to as Howard K. Stern, to avoid confusion with radio personality Howard Stern – is the former attorney and partner of Anna Nicole Smith. He was charged with conspiracy in the delivery of controlled substances which led to her death.

Stern was born to a Jewish family and raised in Los Angeles, California. He graduated with a B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990 and received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was admitted to the State Bar of California on February 25, 1994.

Stern's law firm first handled Anna Nicole Smith's modeling contracts in the mid 1990s. When she fought for the fortune of her late husband J. Howard Marshall, Stern presented her direct examination at the trial. Stern's law firm was dissolved around the time he became a co-star on The Anna Nicole Show. Stern maintains an apartment in Santa Monica, California, from which he operated a business called "Hot Smoochie Lips, Inc." which is a talent agency that only had one client, Anna Nicole Smith.