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Client Service Program
Lathrop & Gage not only provides the highest level of client service - we reward it. Every year we recognize an attorney and staff member with the Jackalope Award for providing client service of near mythic proportions.
Our attorney winner was Kenneth Weltz, nominated by his secretary Arleen Slayman.
Ken maintained long billable hours throughout 2004, despite battling a long and serious illness. Throughout his treatments, Ken traveled to various out-of-state depositions for his high-volume asbestos litigation practice. Ken is a good and hard-working person. He is kind to his fellow attorneys and support staff. He is always willing to help other attorneys on their cases, regardless of how busy he might be with his own practice. The extra effort taken to help other attorneys makes Ken a well-rounded lawyer, enabling him to handle various areas of law. This special talent is an asset in today's trend toward the very specialized lawyer. We are glad Ken is recovering well and are happy to see him win the Spring Jackalope Award!
Of the staff members, the Spring 2005 awards went to:
Beth Marschel, from our Overland Park office. Beth was tasked with sorting out liquor license issues for a restaurant client. What sounded like a simple project was not. First she had to wade through a convoluted collection of entities with very few available records. As soon as the licensing had been completed, the client asked Beth to pursue a 3:00 a.m. closing permit.
That meant that Beth had to obtain the consent of a majority of 41 neighboring property owners -- including individual condo owners. Beth wrote letters and made calls, but, in the end she single-handedly went door to door through the condos, negotiating locked doors, no on home and even angry neighbors -- some who even asked for something from the restaurant in return for their consent. And just when she had obtained enough consents, she was advised by the city that her failure to secure the consent of one trustee who controlled 15 condominium units left her short of the required majority. Beth ultimately persuaded the city that her view of the ordinance was the correct one and prevailed.
Throughout she worked on her own, was dogged, persistent, diligent, and always right in her approach. As the expert on liquor licensing, she spotted the issues and obstacles, analyzed them, and decided how best to proceed. The result was a happy client, a smooth transition, plus a much sought after 3:00 a.m. closing permit. I can assure you, our associates thank you as well! Congratulations, Beth for a job well done!
Next, we have a couple of wonderful examples of our offices working together and optimizing resources in different locations to bring about a success. The next winners were each nominated by three people independently.
Amy Beck worked nonstop long hours from October through mid-December keeping an extremely aggressive, multiple-track discovery schedule in an insurance litigation case; then worked night and day the remainder of December, January, February and into March on Bill Hansen's document-intensive environmental trial. The case involved over 1,000 exhibits and 16 in limine matters. Organizing and preparing for such a case entailed weeks on end of 12-hour+ days, including weekends all the way through the holidays. In just a little over two months, she logged 543 billable hours on behalf of the client. Ultimately, the client prevailed in the three-week trial. Immediately after trial, Amy jumped back into the insurance litigation case and has been getting ready for a lengthy trial. Her performance has been far beyond what any of us has the right to expect, and her time away in New York involved huge personal sacrifices. Congratulations on a fabulous job!
This last one is for the record books. In the past we've had attorneys nominate people for Jackalopes, we've even had clients nominate people, but never before have we seen a nomination from an attorney, a client, AND opposing council -- all for the same monumental efforts of two individuals.
Two attorneys from our Springfield office headed up this team effort that closed a $31 million "merger for cash" acquisition of 37 supermarkets and convenience stores. The transaction was complex and had been nine months in the making. It culminated on December 23rd and 24th -- the two days prior to the Christmas holiday in the Kansas City office. The day of the closing there was a call for all hands on deck. Linda Medoff and Bronwen Hicks responded. They did everything. But most importantly they stayed at a pre-closing meeting on Thursday, December 23, until 11:30 that night. Keep in mind that the office closed that day at 3 pm. Also keep in mind that the building turned off the heat around 5:00, (while the outside temp was 9 degrees).
Randell Wallace said later, "The really amazing thing was that Linda and Bronwen didn't really know Jim and me from the Springfield Office when the day started. It's one thing to stay late for the people you work with on a daily basis, but to give that kind of effort for two clowns from another regional office is truly remarkable."
Then the kudos started coming in. First from the client:
"…AND PLEASE TELL THAT STAFF IN KCMO how wonderful they were yesterday with the assistance…2 days before Christmas and to get that kind of service was incredible."
And Even from the opposing Counsel;
"I want to follow up with you to commend the extraordinary efforts that Linda and Bronwen put in to work on our deal last Thursday. Their skills and attitude were truly exceptional. Their support and "can-do" attitudes would have been commendable on a "normal" day but the fact that it was a Holiday when the rest of the office left early was wonderful. You are very lucky to have them working for your firm and we were lucky to have them working on this deal."
A big thank you to Linda and Browen for this outstanding effort.
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