YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

Attorneys Michael Textor, Jim Meadows and Dwayne Fulk say they were recruited to join Lathrop & Gage, which sits in the shadow of Hammons Tower, home to their former employer Polsinelli.
Attorneys Michael Textor, Jim Meadows and Dwayne Fulk say they were recruited to join Lathrop & Gage, which sits in the shadow of Hammons Tower, home to their former employer Polsinelli.

Polsinelli attorneys join Lathrop

Posted online
While Kansas City-based law firm Polsinelli PC may be one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country, its Queen City office is shrinking, and its top executive says he doesn’t know if the firm will rehire.

Last week, Polsinelli CEO Russell Welsh said there were no plans to leave the Springfield market, but there also were no immediate plans to replace the three attorneys who this month walked across St. Louis Street with office essentials in hand to join the Springfield office for Lathrop & Gage LLP.

The trio of established Springfield attorneys – Dwayne Fulk, Jim Meadows and Michael Textor – said Lathrop recruited them over a period of months.

“Choosing a new law firm is, for lack of a better analogy, a lot like dating,” said Meadows, a 12-year attorney who has appeared multiple times in the Eighth Circuit for the U.S. Court of Appeals. “They needed a chance to get to know us better. We needed a chance to get to know Lathrop better. And there was a mutual process, a courtship so to speak, that gave us the opportunity to talk to each other over a number of months and speak about what this would look like.”

Citing confidentiality, the three new Lathrop attorneys declined to say if they had knowledge of any other changes in the local Polsinelli office.

Welsh said Polsinelli was evaluating whether it would hire more lawyers for the Springfield office, and no definitive plans were in place.

“We certainly serve the Springfield market and have for some time both with the lawyers we have in Springfield but also lawyers throughout the firm,” Welsh said, declining to answer whether attorneys would be transferring to other Polsinelli offices. “We have a core down there and they are continuing.

“We are not walking away from Springfield.”

Fulk, the current president of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, brings 20 years of experience to fellow Kansas City-based firm Lathrop & Gage, with a practice focus in corporate law and mergers and acquisitions. Textor has worked 18 years in construction law and commercial litigation, and Meadows represents banks and property owners in commercial real estate disputes.

Randell Wallace, Lathrop’s managing partner in Springfield, said he had heard rumors Polsinelli was leaving town, but the firmwas not targeted as a source for potential new hires. He said Fulk, Meadows and Textor were identified years ago as quality attorneys that could benefit the local Lathrop team.

“We are always on the lookout for lawyers that we think would be good additions to our office,” he said of the 18 local attorneys. “We are looking for new people as we speak.

“There are others that we’ve got on our wish list as well from other firms.”

The attorneys said they felt confident that most, if not all, of their clients would follow them through the transition.

“Clients choose lawyers, not firms,” Fulk said. “I think that’s especially true in Springfield.”

The attorneys said they were attracted by intangibles at Lathrop, such as the firm’s reputation and commitment to the community.

“Lathrop is looking toward the future and toward the long-term in this community and we all are going to be a part of that,” Meadows said. “None of us are spring chickens, but for lawyers we are kind of young. We are all in the early stages of our career and this was something we were looking at as a long-term move. And Lathrop was as well.”

Thomas O’Neal, managing shareholder of Polsinelli’s Springfield office, said seven attorneys remain on board. He said the moves were norms in the law industry.

“We are a firm of over 800 lawyers, and there’s always attorneys coming and going,” O’Neal said.

“I’ve practiced law in Springfield for 48 years. I don’t think there’s ever been a year where there wasn’t one or more or several attorneys change firms.”

Jennifer Growcock, a Polsinelli shareholder in Springfield, said she had no intentions of leaving the firm or the area.

“I plan on living in the Springfield area and working in Springfield with Polsinelli for many years,” she said via email.

This isn’t the first time in recent history that Kansas City-based law firms have wrestled over talent in the Queen City. Ten attorneys have left Kansas City-based Husch Blackwell LLP’s Springfield office since June to help start a Springfield office for Kansas City-based Spencer Fane Britt & Browne.

Polsinelli, which has 19 offices around the country and employs over 350 lawyers in Missouri, has been recognized for its growth nationally, Welsh said, pointing to a top ranking for growth over the past six years from The American Lawyer. It entered the local market in 2009 through a merger with Shughart Thompson & Killroy. According to Springfield Business Journal archives, the firm comprised about 480 attorneys at the time.[[In-content Ad]]

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
Business Spotlight: The Right Focus

Helping people is the foremost purpose in business for Angela Stephens. The idea for Re-Focus the Creative Office was born to help her son, Drake Stephens, who had started struggling in school in fifth grade.

Most Read
Update cookies preferences