Best Lawyers has named five Armstrong Teasdale partners as 2012 “Lawyers of the Year” for their work in high-profile legal specialties. Only one lawyer per community is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year” in a particular specialty area.
St. Louis Office
Donald U. Beimdiek, Litigation - Land Use & Zoning. Beimdiek is senior counsel to the firm’s
Real Estate practice group. He concentrates his practice in real estate and municipal law and is experienced in the areas of negotiation and preparation of documents, deeds of trust and related financing documentation, leases, development agreements, easements and eminent domain.
Anthony J. (A.J.) Chivetta, International Trade and Finance Law. Chivetta, a former architect, is a member of the firm’s International and Real Estate practice groups. In the international area, he represents clients in mergers and acquisitions as well as import and export transactions. In real estate, he provides representation in the areas of design and construction contracts, acquisitions, leasing and land use planning.
Clark H. Cole, Insurance Law. Cole leads the firm's Insurance Coverage and Litigation practice group. He concentrates in the areas of insurance and commercial litigation, including personal injury and product liability defense. His practice is divided between Missouri and Illinois and he has tried cases to verdict in 13 different state and federal jurisdictions.
James G. Martin, Corporate Compliance Law. Martin, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation practice group. He concentrates in the areas of white collar criminal defense, corporate governance and compliance and complex business litigation. He has served as lead defense counsel in numerous class action and other major civil litigation matters including those brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Kansas City Office
Edward R. Spalty, Franchise Law. Spalty chairs the firm’s Kansas City Business Litigation practice group. He focuses on franchise and complex business litigation including intellectual property, non-compete and trade secret disputes. Spalty previously served as managing partner of the firm’s Kansas City office and co-chair of the Antitrust, Franchise and Distribution practice group.
Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers made through this process.
The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received top ratings by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism and integrity.