MoveMakers & NewsMakers February 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018 - See who is making news and moving wherein the weekly Missouri Bar update "MoveMakers & NewsMakers."

Kansas City Area

Jason Gorden has joined Mann Conroy Law Firm, to head up the firm’s patent practice and to deepen the firm’s technology practice. Gorden joined the firm in February 2018. He has over 15 years of experience in complex intellectual property issues including patent prosecution, patent portfolio management, technology licensing and development contracts, and software development.

Gorden received his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He earned his juris doctor from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Gorden worked as a software design engineer in various roles including designing embedded control systems for natural gas pipeline operations and developing production test software for the control systems. He has spent time both in private practice as well as in-house counsel, most recently as in-house intellectual property counsel for a large enterprise software company. He is a member of The Missouri Bar, the State Bar of California, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. Mann Conroy, LLC, is a corporate and business law firm providing commercial, financial, real estate, M&A, private equity, technology, estates and trusts, intellectual property, and commercial bankruptcy legal services.

John M. Parisi is pleased to announce the opening of The Parisi Law Firm. Parisi has been practicing law since he graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1989. His primary area of practice is plaintiff's personal injury, and he has litigated cases in state and federal courts throughout Missouri and Kansas. Parisi has served on a variety of committees and in leadership roles throughout his career including with the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Johnson County Bar Association, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is a former chairman of the Kansas Lawyers Victims Compensation Fund and a past president of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association. He is the incoming chair of the Johnson County Bar Association's ethics and grievance committee and is a lawyer member of the Tenth Judicial District Nominating Commission. Throughout his almost 30-year career, Parisi's practice has focused on representing seriously injured individuals and the families of those who have lost loved ones as a result of the negligence of others. He has also represented a number of whistleblowers in Federal False Claims Act "Qui Tam" Actions. He will continue to practice primarily in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, and medical negligence as well as qui tam (whistleblower) actions.

Patton Knipp Dean, which focuses on bankruptcy law, recently hired Larry A. Pittman, II to develop the firm's Chapter 11, bankruptcy litigation and mortgage litigation practices."I'm excited to join a dynamic team at an exciting time in the firm's growth and look forward to using my past experience to leverage new opportunities for the firm," said Pittman, a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and past president of the Kansas City Bankruptcy Bar Association. For four years Pittman clerked for a federal bankruptcy judge and has more than a decade of practice handling all aspects of bankruptcy cases representing debtors and creditors, consumer litigation and residential mortgage-related litigation. "His deadline-driven and litigation-intensive practice feed a sense of urgency and attention to detail that serves his clients well," noted Ryan B. Patton, a founding partner of Patton Knipp Dean. Presently, Pittman primarily handles corporate and consumer reorganization (in and out of bankruptcy), litigation in all areas of bankruptcy, and consumer litigation. "My litigation practice focuses on litigation under the automatic stay and discharge injunction, as well as the Bankruptcy Code and Rules, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act," concluded Pittman.

St. Louis AreaLashly & Baer, P.C. has named Lisa O. Stump as president. She succeeds Kenneth C. Brostron, who is stepping aside as president of the firm, after over 30 years. Stump, who has practiced at Lashly & Baer for her entire career, becomes the first woman president of the firm. Stump is also chair of the firm’s governmental and education practice group.

“I am honored to serve as Lashly’s president,” said Stump. “Ken has been a great leader for our firm, and he has been a mentor to me. My goal is to continue to focus on the outstanding client service that Ken has championed.”

“Lisa is first and foremost a great lawyer,” Brostron said. “She is one of the best government and education lawyers in the State of Missouri. She has grown to be a leader of the firm, and I am confident that the firm will have great success in the future.”

Under Brostron’s leadership, Lashly’s reputation grew from a leading midwestern litigation firm to a full-service law firm including governmental and education, health law, business, and finance practices. The leadership transition is part of the firm’s strategic plan which was developed in 2013. Stump has been serving side-by-side with Brostron as the firm’s president-elect for the past year. Brostron will remain as a member of the firm’s board of directors.

Stump believes that the transition will be seamless. “We’ve been planning this transition for the past five years. We will continue to focus on delivering outstanding legal services for our clients in an efficient manner,” said Stump. “We continue to look for talented attorneys who share our culture and vision for the future.”

Lashly joins a small percentage of major law firms that have a woman chief executive. Stump, who along with her husband Steve, raised their four children while practicing at the firm, believes that Lashly has been a leader in recognizing workplace flexibility and embracing families, while still instilling and supporting a work ethic with the ultimate goal of serving clients. “Lashly allowed me to practice on a flexible schedule when I had small children, which was rare in the early 1990s,” Stump said. “Collectively, the firm found ways to ensure that client service remains unchanged. Our clients want accessibility and results. That can happen from outside the traditional four walls of the office,” Stump added. “Our firm has seen productivity rise when attorneys are given the tools to work in the manner which best serves them and their clients.”

Stump practices primarily in the areas of governmental and public institutions law including the representation of educational institutions. She advises public agencies on governance issues, contracts and procurement, governmental immunity, public employment, constitutional restrictions on taxation and bond issues, the use of public monies, elections and public records laws. She is the city attorney for the City of Crestwood, and represents the Bi-State Development Agency, Rockwood School District, St. Louis County Library, St. Louis Public Library, and Downtown STL, Inc. Stump received her J.D. from Washington University School of Law where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Washington University Law Quarterly. Brostron is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was counsel to the board of education for the City of St. Louis for over 25 years.

Lashly has also named the following lawyers as officers and members of the board of directors: Stuart J. Vogelsmeier, executive vice president; Stephen G. Reuter, vice president personnel; James C. Hetlage, vice president operations; and Mark R. Feldhaus, vice president finance.

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