For more information, contact:
Stephanie Mitchum Murphy, (816) 292-2000

New Members Bring Expertise in Corporate & General Business, Employee Benefits, Health Care and Wealth Strategies

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Jan. 26, 2007) –   Lathrop & Gage L.C. today announced the addition of three significant new members to the firm’s growing Business Division:

• Alson R. Martin, a former member of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.’s Executive Committee and co-chair of its Business & Finance Division, will concentrate his practice on Employee Benefits, Health Care and Corporate;
• Martie Ross, formerly of Foulston Siefkin LLP in Wichita, joins the Health Care practice in the firm’s Overland Park office, presently the largest health care practice in Kansas; and
• Nancy Schmidt Roush, formerly of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., will concentrate her practice in the areas of business planning and estate planning.

All three have been recognized by Best Lawyers in America^®.

Named among the nation’s top corporate law firms by Corporate Board Member magazine, the Lathrop & Gage Business Division is one of the largest groups in the bi-state region. It encompasses seven practice areas: Corporate & General Business, Financial Institutions, Government Relations, Health Care, Real Estate, Tax & Employee Benefits, and Wealth Strategies. Additionally, Lathrop & Gage has one of the largest and most experienced intellectual property practice groups in the Midwest.

To make the Business Division even stronger, the firm has made a major strategic push to attract the area’s top legal talent in these fields. In 2006, Lathrop & Gage added Bob Grossman, one of the country’s leading ESOP attorneys, and Peter Brown, recently named among the country’s top 100 trust and estates attorneys by Worth magazine. Seven of Brown’s colleagues from Husch & Eppenberger, LLC also joined.

About the New Members:

Alson R. Martin joins Lathrop & Gage as a recognized national authority in the fields of business law, taxation and retirement benefits. He will practice in the firm’s office in Overland Park, Kan.  Martin is listed in The Best Lawyers, Chambers America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Outstanding Lawyers of America, Guide to Leading Tax Lawyers, Super Lawyers and The National Registry of Who's Who.

He is a Fellow of both the American College of Tax Counsel and the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. Martin earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, and his juris doctorate and Master of Laws (Tax Law) from the New York University School of Law. He previously served as a Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, United States Navy.

Martie Ross has developed an extensive health care practice, advising and representing hospitals, physicians and other health care providers on a wide range of issues including reimbursement, licensure and accreditation, risk management, medical staff relations, privacy and security rules, government investigations compliance program development and business planning. She will practice in the firm’s office in Overland Park, Kan.

Ross is listed in 2005-06 Guide to the Leading U.S. Healthcare Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America^®. She was selected as a 40 Under 40 Business Leader in 2004 by the Wichita Business Journal.  She obtained her bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate from the University of Kansas.

Nancy Schmidt Roush has a wealth of experience in the areas of business planning and estate planning and advises clients on issues relating to governance, succession planning, managing ownership, buy-sell agreements, and non-compete agreements. She will practice in the firm’s Kansas City, Mo. office.

Roush has been listed in every edition of Best Lawyers in America^® since 1991 and was named to Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers in 2005 and 2006. In addition, in 2006 she was named by Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers as one of the "Top 50 Women" from Missouri and Kansas.

She is a fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is currently Chair of its Business Planning Committee. Roush received her bachelor’s degree from Taylor University and her juris doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law.

About Lathrop & Gage:
A leading Midwest full-service law firm, Lathrop & Gage L.C. has 280 attorneys in 10 offices nationwide – from Denver, Colo. to New York, New York. In 2006, Chambers USA ranked Lathrop & Gage’s corporate, intellectual property,  litigation, real estate and labor and employment practices among the best in the Midwest, noting the firm is populated with “excellent legal advisers with a strong commitment to customer service.”

For more information, visit www.lathropgage.com or www.beentherewonthat.com.