On the top office floors at Hammons Tower, the tallest building in southwest Missouri, David Agee counsels and negotiates on deals valued in the billions of dollars with parties spanning the globe.
The Husch Blackwell LLP partner specializes in corporate, transactional and commercial law, which leads to such deals as $9 billion in acquisitions of 250 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, negotiations for $75 million worth of Embraer Phenom aircraft and a $200 million cross-border sale-leaseback of multiple aircraft for a major commercial airline. Practicing corporate, transactional and commercial law, Agee has represented hotel developer John Q. Hammons when he privatized his publicly traded company, and he has counseled U.S. and foreign airlines and business aviation clients with buyers in Australia, Nepal, Mongolia and Russia.
Working with business owners from startups to exit strategies, and all the mergers, acquisitions and capital investments in between, he has built a reputation of creating practical solutions from complex issues. That’s the nature of handling aircraft purchase deals for American Airlines and leading the firm’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Team to advise clients on the use of drones, which are currently illegal in commercial practices.
“I believe it is not helpful to merely espouse legal theories and list obstacles to achieving a client’s desired result,” he says. “I strive to seek practical solutions within the constraints of legal limitations, and my clients seem to appreciate that approach.”
Agee works to shoot straight with his clients.
“At times, this requires telling them what they do not want to hear and redirecting their focus and goals,” he says. “My clients also understand that I do not have all the answers and may not have expertise in a specific area of the law. However, they trust I have access to qualified resources and will direct them to the experts we need.”
Agee is on a team of 30 Husch Blackwell attorneys now developing answers in line with Federal Aviation Administration regulations about flying drones. For instance, he says just because someone buys a drone off the shelf, doesn’t mean they have the right to fly it. While the FAA is at least a year away from legally integrating commercial drones into the national airspace, Agee and company are studying every step of the way for the new, confusing frontier. As founder and group leader of the law firm’s aviation practice, Agee advises clients in aircraft construction, maintenance and repair, corporate flight bookings and fixed-based operations.
In day-to-day affairs, Agee is known to assist area business owners in operational matters, such as vendor, customer and staff relations, employee benefits and taxes, and regulation compliance.
“I also assist in guiding them through options for financing their business, and … I may guide them through an exit strategy through a merger or sale of the company, both strategically or through an investor,” he says.
His community service is equally as diverse. During his career, Agee has served on the boards of directors for Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Missouri and Ronald McDonald House Charities, to name a few.[[In-content Ad]]
