Alumni Spotlight - St. Louis Office

1. When did you join Husch Blackwell (or a legacy HB firm?)

In 1980 I joined Peper, Martin, Jensen, Michael, and Hetledge, one of the legacy firms that merged into what is now Husch Blackwell. Peper Martin was the fifth largest law firm in St. Louis at the time. I was attorney #34. How crazy is that?

2. Name an HB mentor or mentee that shaped your legal career and describe how. 

My mentor was a partner named Rick Jaudes. Rick was a lightning rod—loved by many, and not-so-much by some. Rick taught me how to try cases and how to be responsive to clients in a way that made them think they were my favorite client (as Rick would put it).

3. Do you have a favorite case or work memory from your time at the firm?

Sometime in the late 2000s, I tried a case with Husch Blackwell Partner Randy Thompson. Actually, I was Randy’s second chair on that case. It was an employment discrimination case in federal court in South Carolina, and the stakes were pretty high. For reasons I will never understand, our judge did not care for us. He was rude and disrespectful while being cordial to plaintiff’s counsel. He denied all of our pretrial motions and all of our in-trial objections. Most of his objection denials were outrageous and clearly contrary to the Federal Rules of Evidence. In the second or third day of trial, Randy stood up to object to a question posed by plaintiff‘s counsel. As Randy was about to speak, I grabbed the back of his suit coat and gently pulled him down into his chair, knowing that his objection would be denied like all of the others and fearing that the judge would hold him in contempt, which he had previously threatened. In the presence of the jury, the judge said “Mr. Hiles, that’s the first smart thing you’ve done in this trial.”

Anyway, Randy tried a brilliant case, and the jury returned a verdict for our client! After the trial ended, Randy and I took the client to dinner. The judge came into the restaurant. He noticed us, stood up, and started walking our way. As I was bracing myself for a barrage of insults in the client’s presence, the judge introduced himself to the client (who had been in the courtroom throughout the trial) and told her that she had two of the finest trial lawyers to try a case in his courtroom. It was a great reversal of fortunes. This was a memorable experience with a dear colleague under the worst of circumstances with the best of outcomes.

4. What do you enjoy doing in your retirement?