Greene and Curtis merges with Husch

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The law firms of Greene & Curtis LLP and Husch & Ep-penberger LLC merged April 1 to form one of Springfield's largest firms based on number of local attorneys.|ret||ret||tab|

Greene & Curtis' seven attorneys join the 14 attorneys in Husch & Eppenberger's Spring-field office for a total of 21. Three more attorneys will be added this summer, said Wil-liam J. Hart, Husch & Eppen-berger's local managing partner.|ret||ret||tab|

Following a two-month transition period, the merged firm will officially be known as Husch & Eppenberger LLC.|ret||ret||tab|

Firm-wide, St. Louis-based Husch & Eppenberger has 255 attorneys with offices in Clayton, Jefferson City, Kan-sas City, Springfield, Wichita, Kan., Pe-oria, Ill. and Chattanooga, Tenn.|ret||ret||tab|

Joe Greene, of Greene & Curtis, said the merger results in broader staff expertise and a broader client base. |ret||ret||tab|

The combined client base includes Bass Pro Shops, Big Cedar Lodge, Silver Dollar City, John Q. Hammons Hotels, O'Reilly Automotive and Prime Inc.|ret||ret||tab|

Greene said the areas of practice at both firms are a good match, with emphasis on corporate law and litigation. |ret||ret||tab|

"All of the lawyers will continue to do the same things they've been doing," Hart added. "We'll do them together now and it gives us an opportunity to better serve our clients with more resources, more lawyers."|ret||ret||tab|

Husch & Eppenberger covers all areas of practice but criminal law and has a large presence in product liability, litigation, intellectual property, environmental law, securities law and employment law, Hart said. |ret||ret||tab|

"The emphasis here in Springfield is very heavily towards business law, real estate development, commercial litigation," he added.|ret||ret||tab|

Office consolidation may occur, but probably not for another 10 to 12 months, Hart said. Until then, the merged firm will operate out of their component offices Greene & Curtis at 1340 E. Woodhurst and Husch & Eppenberger at 750 N. Jefferson.|ret||ret||tab|

"We will be looking for a new location," Hart said, adding that the firm will likely build from the ground up.|ret||ret||tab|

Greene & Curtis was established in 1974 and Husch & Eppenberger was founded in 1922.|ret||ret||tab|

Husch & Eppenberger entered the Springfield market when it acquired the firm of Farrington & Curtis on Jan. 1, 1997. Hart was a member of Farrington & Curtis at the time.|ret||ret||tab|

Both Greene and Hart have always practiced in Springfield: Greene for 40 years, and Hart for 32 years.|ret||ret||tab|

Hart said that his firm had an eye on Greene & Curtis for some time.|ret||ret||tab|

"We've always admired and respected these (attorneys) and they do a great job for their clients," he said. "We've always thought that we'd like to practice law with them."[[In-content Ad]]