Ozarks Profile

President of William H. McDonald & Associates PC, 300 S. Jefferson, Ste. 600. McDonald & Associates is a full-service law firm with an emphasis on commercial and personal injury litigation and business. "McDonald & Associates was formed by me upon the dissolution of Woolsey, Fisher, Whiteaker & McDonald on June 1, 1995, with a grand total of two employees my longstanding secretary and legal assistant, Kathy Plummer, and me," McDonald said. The newly-formed firm started full operations several months later with four attorneys. McDonald & Associates now has 11 attorneys, five paralegals and 28 employees and is A-V rated by Martindale-Hubbell. McDonald is a member of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Association, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the American Board of Trial Advocates and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He serves on the board of directors of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, the University of MissouriÐKansas City School of Law Alumni Foundation, the American Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division and is a member of the editorial board of The Missouri Bar Journal. McDonald is also a life fellow of the American Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute, and has been featured in Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in America.

Age: 53

No. of years in Springfield/area: McDonald moved to Springfield from Marshfield in 1964 to attend Southwest Missouri State University. After graduating from law school and serving in the Army, he moved back to Springfield in 1973 and has lived here ever since.

Education: McDonald graduated from SMSU in 1968 with a bachelor of science degree in public administration and minors in political science and military science. He received his juris doctorate from University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Early career: McDonald, who was raised on a dairy farm outside Marshfield, got his first "off the farm" job when he was 13 as a grocery clerk for Hobson's Market in Marshfield. Through high school, he kept that Saturday job, but also mowed yards, baled hay and worked at two service stations. The summer after high school graduation, he welded for Marshfield Steel. While in college, McDonald worked on a concrete crew constructing a dam in Oregon, and as a laboratory technician and phlebotomist at St. John's. He became a life insurance agent his senior year in college and worked for Northwestern Mutual Life midway through his first year in law school, then spent six months as an adjuster for Allstate Insurance. McDonald then worked as a clerk for the Jackson County Probate Court his last two years in law school. After serving in the Army, McDonald began as an associate for the law firm of Woolsey, Fisher, Clark, Whiteaker & Stenger in 1973. He became a partner three years later, and the firm's name was changed to Woolsey, Fisher, Whiteaker & McDonald. Before the firm dissolved in June of 1995, McDonald was president and managing shareholder. He began McDonald & Associates that same year.

Current projects: "Currently, I am scheduled for three trials and two appellate arguments, and am in the midst of discovery on other cases. Firm management is a constant project. I have three books going, 'Nathaniel Bedford Forest,' 'Miracle in Philadelphia' and 'Black Rose.' I also try to keep open time for turkey and deer seasons."

Management philosophy: "When you find a good lawyer or legal assistant, hire them, give them as much support as you can and all the freedom and responsibility they can handle, and the business will follow. Good business follows good lawyers."

Spare-time pursuits: "We have a boat at Table Rock, which as a family we have enjoyed immensely. I have reintroduced myself to hunting, and in particular, turkey hunting."

Family data: McDonald is married to Janice, a teacher, whom he met in high school and married after college graduation. The McDonalds have two grown daughters.

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