MoveMakers & NewsMakers for March 18, 2025

St. Louis | Kansas City | Springfield

St. Louis

Watters Wolf Bub Hansmann is pleased to announce that lawyers Allie Malone Subke, Patrick C. Meyer, and Robert Amsler, Jr. have been promoted to the position of Principals in the firm. All three are tested and experienced trial lawyers enabling WWBH to continue to grow and serve our clients. 

Kansas City

Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice is pleased to announce the addition of J. Tanner Murphy as an associate in the firm’s Kansas City office. 

Murphy’s practice focuses on personal injury, employment, construction and commercial matters. He also has experience advising insurers on coverage issues and handling insurance coverage disputes, premises liability claims with a focus on negligent security and employment discrimination claims for state entities. 

Murphy earned his law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri. He is licensed to practice in Missouri. 

The Kansas City office of Lewis Rice has promoted Brynne C. Brown and B. Joseph Harris to members of the firm. At Lewis Rice, a member is the equivalent of a partner.

Brynne provides clients with a high level of service in the practice areas of estate planning, taxation and business law. She works alongside each of her clients to develop a plan or resolution that best fits their unique and dynamic needs and wishes. Joe focuses much of his practice on estate and gift tax planning and has experience drafting various estate planning documents including wills, trusts, prenuptial agreements, durable powers of attorney and medical directives. Additionally, he has experience in many aspects of tax planning for partnerships, LLCs and corporations, including business and succession planning, and he has extensive knowledge on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
 

Springfield

Kutak Rock is pleased to announce that James Jeffries has returned to the firm’s Springfield office in the Intellectual Property and Corporate practice group. James previously served as a partner at the firm before spending several years as general counsel at firm client Kuat Innovations.

James brings extensive experience in intellectual property and corporate law, including trademark, patent and general corporate matters. He also advises clients on customs and international trade issues, helping businesses develop supply chain strategies to mitigate tariff exposure, structure vendor relationships to manage currency and other business risks, and leverage U.S. tariff programs to optimize supply chain structure.

“We are excited to welcome James back to Kutak Rock,” said Larry Fields, regional managing partner for the firm’s Springfield office. “His deep understanding of tariffs and international trade is particularly critical in today’s shifting political and economic landscape. Businesses are facing unprecedented challenges with evolving trade regulations, and James’ ability to guide them through all of these issues will be an invaluable asset to our clients.”

In his practice, James has assisted clients in obtaining U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Harmonized Tariff Schedule rulings and country-of-origin determinations. He has also worked with clients on duty drawback programs, anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations, international transaction documentation and responses to CBP information requests. With ongoing changes in trade regulations, including potential statutory revisions such as the reciprocal trade act proposals, James’ insight into the evolving landscape will provide valuable guidance to clients navigating these complexities.

James earned his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law where he graduated magna cum laude. He also holds a B.S. in physics from Missouri State University where he graduated summa cum laude.