A Conversation With … Michael Miller

Lowther Johnson is the largest locally owned law firm in southwest Missouri, according to SBJ research. What did it take to get to this point?
There isn’t a key to success. We were founded 40 years ago by some really good attorneys, who were also good guys. Ted Johnson, one of the founders, is still here 40 years later. Some of the guys who started shortly after – Craig Lowther, Mike Cully, John Housley – have been here for an exceptionally long period of time. They have created a culture and environment people want to work in. The staff is treated with respect. They are involved in the team and are part of the family. The attorneys understand it’s important the firm do well before we do well. As partners, we look out for each other. I think the two main reasons firms break up are fights over money and fights over power. The partnership shares our money; we don’t fight over it. Then power, no one wants it. We all have equal say. Whether you are a 31-year-old partner or a 67-year-old partner, your vote counts the same.

The firm currently has 18 attorneys. Is it continuing to grow?
You have seen in Springfield certain firms get bigger, then break up. There is a happy number in Springfield as to how big you can and should be before people start to fragment and section off. We have been between 16 and 20 for at least 10 years, as long as I have been here.

How does your firm recruit new lawyers?
We interview at Mizzou every year for clerks. Our hope is to get to know them and watch them work. We very rarely hire someone who hasn’t been a clerk for us before. They have cut back on class sizes, specifically Mizzou. When I was there, our class was 180-something. Now I believe it’s around 120. There are still a lot of new attorneys coming to town.

If you look at law school numbers now, more than 50 percent of law school students are women. However, 25 or 30 years ago, that wasn’t the case. It takes time to get more females in the workforce. If anybody looks at our website, they will notice there aren’t any female attorneys. It’s not for lack of effort or by choice. We have had tremendous women who have worked here before and they have gone on to other opportunities. The difficulty is trying to find women who want to come to Springfield. Some of it is Kansas City and St. Louis can pay more. Their markets are bigger and their salaries are larger.

Has Lowther Johnson seen any additional work from the recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage?
We haven’t yet. That isn’t to say we won’t over time. It’s going to be a hot-button issue. We’ve taken calls about religious aspects, about performing marriages and not performing marriages. Those are all issues that will have to be decided by a court someday, and relatively soon. I think there is some gray area right now as to what should and shouldn’t happen. It will be litigated heavily just like the right to marry was.

In Springfield, does that gray area include the repeal of the nondiscrimination ordinance?
It’s very interesting. If you have a right to gay marriage, the Supreme Court has essentially said you can’t discriminate because of someone’s sexuality. Those that voted against the nondiscrimination ordinance in Springfield would say we don’t want to necessarily discriminate, but we want to be able to choose who we can serve. Of course, the basis of choosing who they serve, in that instance, was a discriminatory purpose. So, they don’t mesh and are inconsistent in my view. Something has to give. The Supreme Court obviously has a greater say in how the country is run than the city of Springfield. In order for change, either the city will have to do something on their own or they will feel the pressure from some sort of litigation where the courts decide. That will come to a head sooner rather than later, which is probably a good thing for those being discriminated against.