Throughout our Firm’s history, Lewis Rice attorneys have made excellence the foundation of our practice. More than a century of service, since our founding in 1909 in downtown Saint Louis by Joseph Lewis and Charles Rice, gives us the experience, reputation, resources, and vision to serve our clients’ dynamic needs. We provide sophisticated legal counsel and custom-tailored solutions for the challenges facing local, regional, and national businesses.

We have a diverse array of terrific clients. You can read about a few of them here:

CIC Group

SRAM

CKE

PublicationBank Loses Its $7.6 Million Lien Due to Ineffective Financing Statement
The UCC-1 financing statement is an innocent-looking form, with just a few boxes to complete and check as part of a secured financing transaction, but it is a critical document that lenders must correctly complete and file. In another reminder of the significance of the financing statement, a bankruptcy court has ruled that a lender’s financing statement designed to perfect a $7.6 million lien against all assets of a business was insufficient, rendering the underlying lien avoidable by the chapter 7 trustee and making the assets available to unsecured creditors. First Midwest Bank v. Jeana K. Reinbold, Chapter 7 Trustee (In re 180 Equipment, LLC), No. 17-81749, Adv. No. 18-8003 (Bankr. C.D. Ill., Aug. 20, 2018). Read more>>
Firm NewsJacob W. Reby Elected President of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys
Lewis Rice is pleased to announce that Jacob W. Reby has been elected President of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA) at its annual meeting in Tucson. ACMA Fellows consists of fewer than 500 preeminent private practice and in-house commercial real estate finance lawyers in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. ACMA’s exclusive membership is comprised of lawyers who have distinguished themselves as practitioners in the field of real estate mortgage law through their skills, extensive practice experience, and related activities. Jake is one of only 11 lawyers in Missouri elected as a Fellow of ACMA. Locally, Jake has also served as President of the St. Louis Art Fair, Ozark Regional Land Trust, Laumeier Sculpture Park and the Clayton Chamber of Commerce. He is also a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Real Estate Lawyers.
Firm NewsJohn M. Hessel to Receive St. Louis Bar Foundation’s 2018 Spirit of Justice Award
Lewis Rice is proud to announce that John M. Hessel was selected to receive the St. Louis Bar Foundation's 2018 Spirit of Justice Award, which recognizes those "who have demonstrated accomplishment, leadership and integrity in fostering and maintaining the rule of law and in facilitating and promoting improvement of the administration of justice." Honorees are first nominated by members of their community and then selected by the Spirit of Justice Awards Committee.

Spirit of Justice Awardees were recognized at the Spirit of Justice Celebration on October 12, 2018.

John has always been a strong advocate for his clients, which include manufacturers, municipal corporations, financial institutions, publishing companies and local and national media entities, but, at the same time, he is respected by attorneys and judges for his professionalism and integrity. Best Lawyers® has named John "St. Louis Municipal Lawyer of the Year" for 2011, 2013 and 2016, "St. Louis Litigation-First Amendment Lawyer of the Year" for 2014 and 2018, and "St. Louis Litigation-Municipal Lawyer of the Year" for 2015.
Case StudyLewis Rice Gets Bird Scooters Flying in St. Louis
After a successful rollout in St. Louis, Bird Scooters agreed to work in partnership with the City of St. Louis to develop a city-wide dockless scooter program. Lewis Rice attorneys Sonette Magnus and David Sweeney worked directly with various city management and elected officials on this project to create and implement the compliant city-wide dockless scooter program just 10 days after Bird’s initial rollout. Bird now holds a permit for the operation of 500 scooters in the City of St. Louis. This is a case study on diplomacy and strategically prioritizing safety and transparency, the culmination of which yielded a phenomenal result for both the City of St. Louis and Bird.

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