Our legal services include:
Our commitment is to practice thr whole law, giving common sense Legal Advice, together with Strategic and Tactical Business counseling...
We limit our law practice to:
Serious Business Disputes, especially involving the federal government.
These matters can include alleges of fraud or deceit; business torts, such as trade libel, palming off, or unfair competition; interference with contract or interference with prospective advantage; unfair trade practices or violations of the antitrust laws; breach of contracts; breach of fiduciary duties; breach of duty by a shareholder, officer, director, or agent or partner; employment law, harassment and wrongful discharge; trade secrets; and, covenants not to compete and agreements not to compete.
Simply put, we defend white collar crime because it is a charge too often reflecting more economic class jealously than reality.
The landmark study in this field was published by Edwin H. Sutherland in 1949 and entitled White-Collar Crime. Attempting a definition of the converse of “street” crime, Sutherland wrote “ ... white-collar crime may be defined approximately as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” Sutherland introduced this definition with comments that these white-collar crimes are violations of law by persons in the “upper socio-economic class.”
Prosecutors, especially federal prosecutors are concerned mostly about their careers and look upon white collar criminal investigations to be both fun and "the most successful" part of their careers. Loucks and Winkler, Why Criminal Folks Should Love to Work With Civil Folks (and Vice Versa), United States Attorneys' Bulletin Vol. 45 No. 01, at page 34.
In the civil context, the courts are coming to realize that fraud just doesn't happen. Home Valu, Inc. v. Pep Boys Manny, Moe and Jack of Delaware Inc., No. 99-1168 (7th Cir. 05/24/2000).
White Collar Crime: Recent Developments, Links, and Resources
You may have heard it said that "Truth, like art, is in the eye of the beholder." Perhaps no where is this more true in the law than in the area of securities.
My family has been in the banking business for 120 years, so I long ago learned that there is no rule of economics that makes the amount of money available to be invested equal to the number of good investment opportunities.
My first counsel to any client with a securities law question is to read Warren Buffett's Owner's Manual and BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY SHAREHOLDER LETTERS with great care.
Glengarry Glen Ross. This film should be seen by everyone involved in the sale or purchase of securities, because it is the fastest way to appreciate the demands and pressures of professional sales. The film focuses on a group of commissioned real estate salesmen. An executive motivator (Alec Baldwin) conducts a sales contest among the agents and the stakes are high: any agent who fails to meet his quota will lose his job, just like in real life. Naturally there is an office superstar (Pacino),and a once-successful salesman (Lemmon) who now finds himself clinging nervously to his job. Political and personal rivalries erupt under pressure when they and the other agents (Alan Arkin, Ed Harris) suspect the office manager (Kevin Spacey) of not treating them fairly. Director James Foley shapes Mamet's play into a stylish, intensely focused film that will stand for decades as a testament to its brilliant writer and cast.
We represent contractors and builders, subcontractors, suppliers, and owners in all types of commercial and residential construction disputes. In addition to having represented Missouri's largest home builder we have handled major construction disputes on St. Louis landmarks such as Union Station and the Admiral. Our experience with federal law and public bidding adds understanding and perspective to our construction law practice.
In our construction practice we have represented owners, general contractors and subcontractors in the following areas:
 | contract document drafting;
| formation of joint ventures; | minority business enterprise issues; | contract negotiation;
| assistance during project with contract compliance and scope of work
issues;
| assistance in determining construction claims and disputes;
| litigation of construction disputes in court;
| assistance with competitive bidding disputes;
| prevailing wage issues; and
| mechanics liens. | |
Innovation Law: Entrepreneurs, Investments, and Venture Capital
In the last two years we have added Innovation Law as a client service, reflecting the shift to the New Economy. The economic rules that drive competition in a Knowledge or Information based economy are very different from the economic rules of our old economy and which have been the foundation of business law. Innovation law concentrates on growing new businesses in high technology products (such as bioengineered pharmaceuticals and computer programs) and cultural goods (such as movies and television shows), which contribute ever more significantly to the US economy.
We started advising clients on distance education issues in 1998, because we recognized that the Internet would change the nature, direction and force of competition in higher education by several magnitudes. Our thesis is that education is a newly de facto deregulated industry. Indeed higher education is a regulated industry, depending far more on a government sanctioned monopoly, created by accreditation, than is understood or appreciated by most in the field.
Our legal counsel has as its foundation a thorough understanding of university norms, based on our experiences in teaching in a state university law school, and the economic principles applicable to disruptive technologies and the sale of information.
The Internet, Internet Law and the law of Cyberspace