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2017 Trusted Advisers Legacy Adviser: Randell Wallace

Lathrop Gage LLP

Posted online

The law profession can take people into unexpected areas.

Attorney Randell Wallace was a pivotal player in a key redevelopment following Joplin’s devastating EF5 tornado. His client was Mercy, and its regional hospital was leveled on May 22, 2011.

Wallace kicked his legal philosophy into gear.

“I view the law as a catalyst for progress for my clients,” says Wallace, the partner in charge of Kansas City-based Lathrop Gage LLP’s Springfield office. “By immersing myself in their business, I can offer advice that is strategic and sometimes unexpected.”

Wallace quickly went to work to assemble the land and gain rezoning for Mercy’s new $435 million hospital in Joplin. “The new 900,000-square-foot, state of the art medical center was able to open just 46 months after the tornado hit,” he recalls.

With his real estate/development and corporate law acumen built over three decades of practice, Wallace also worked behind the scenes on Ozarks Technical Community College’s expansion into Waynesville and Hollister. On behalf of his client, OTC, Wallace assembled the land and financing for the college’s new learning centers.

“I look beyond traditional real estate financing techniques to help developments get off the ground, such as tax increment financing, community improvement districts and transportation development districts,” he says.

For instance, Wallace negotiated for the TDD and CID that paved the way for College Station in downtown Springfield. It’s now home to the 14-screen Regal theater, a public parking garage, The Hamels Foundation office, Moxie Cinema and Equality Healthcare, among other tenants.

He’s also been in the middle of mergers and acquisitions involving Fortune 500 companies.

Wallace’s work contributes to Lathrop Gage’s nearly $150 million in annual billings across 10 offices. In addition to managing the 26-person Springfield office, Wallace counsels local, regional and national developers, lenders, and health care and educational institutions.

Wallace is influencing the city through governing, as well. He co-founded the Springfield Good Government Committee, a political action organization built on pro-business principles with the intent of recruiting and supporting candidates for Springfield City Council.

“In the past, many candidates running for the City Council ran on a one-issue platform and were not business-oriented,” he says. “Candidates did not have an overall understanding of ... the impact their decisions could have on the area’s economy.”

Since beginning his volunteer work in 1986 with Ozarks Food Harvest, Wallace has given of his time and talents to 17 civic and charitable organizations. Leadership roles over the years include board seats for the Missouri Partnership, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greene County Planning Board, as well as president of Leadership Springfield.

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