Lathrop and Gage announces plans to merge with 15-lawyer firm

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The law firms Lathrop & Gage LC and Craft Fridkin & Rhyne LLC announced Oct. 31 a merger that will go into effect Jan. 1.|ret||ret||tab|

Founded in 1873, Lathrop & Gage has 230 attorneys who practice from offices in Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Jefferson City, Overland Park, Kan., Boulder, Colo., and Washington, D.C. Primary practice areas are corporate law, business litigation, environmental litigation, intellectual property litigation, labor and employment litigation, health care law, real estate and financial institutions law, tax law, wealth strategies law, bankruptcy and creditors' rights litigation and tort litigation.|ret||ret||tab|

Craft Fridkin & Rhyne is a 15-lawyer firm with offices in Kansas City and Jefferson City. Craft Fridkin & Rhyne was founded in 1987 and its main practice areas include commercial litigation, real estate development, construction law, gaming, governmental affairs, administrative law and regulatory compliance, environmental law, insurance company regulation, insurer insolvency and reorganization, and health care.|ret||ret||tab|

"This is a significant merger in this market because it builds on the strength of Lathrop & Gage in key, high-profile practice areas, with high-profile clients and extremely high-profile individuals," said Thomas Stewart, managing partner of Lathrop & Gage, in a news release. |ret||ret||tab|

Jack Craft, the founding partner of Craft Fridkin & Rhyne, is perhaps best known for heading up the Bi-State Cultural Tax Campaign. His community involvement includes the Kansas City Economic Development Corp., The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and The Kansas City Zoo. |ret||ret||tab|

Craft said he has always held the lawyers of Lathrop & Gage in the highest esteem.|ret||ret||tab|

"Lathrop & Gage has a long history and expertise in real estate development and government affairs at the local, regional and national level that complements and accentuates our growing practice. Joining with Lathrop & Gage will ensure that we continue to provide the very highest quality legal services our clients expect through additional depth of resources, even in new markets," Craft said.|ret||ret||tab|

Nine attorneys from the Kansas City office of Craft Fridkin & Rhyne will join the Kansas City office of Lathrop & Gage and one attorney from Craft Fridkin & Rhyne's Jefferson City office will join Lathrop & Gage's firm in that city. The combined firm will share several other complementary practice groups. It will have 245 attorneys and continue to be known as Lathrop & Gage. |ret||ret||tab|

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