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Walter Metcalfe interacts with new partners (left to
right): STEVE BAUMER,
JIM BENNETT, WALTER
METCALFE and DANA LASLEY. |
FIRM VISION
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HEADQUARTERED
IN ST. LOUIS, BRYAN CAVE IS ONE OF THE 35 LARGEST LAW FIRMS IN THE
WORLD, POSTING REVENUES OF $350 MILLION IN 2003.
By Pam Droog
Walter Metcalfe Jr., chairman of Bryan Cave LLP, always knew he
would become a lawyer. “My father was a lawyer, and I assumed I’d
be a lawyer,” he says. “There was no doubt in my mind.”
The deal was sealed on Sundays, when Metcalfe rotated files at his
father’s office, and during summers, when he served as his father’s
switchboard operator and messenger. After graduating from John Burroughs
School, the University City native earned a bachelor of arts degree
in history at Washington University in 1960. He spent some time
at the London School of Economics, and received a J.D. from the
University of Virginia Law School in 1964. A lawyer at last.
Metcalfe returned to St. Louis and joined a firm and practiced all
kinds of law. “Those were the good old days, when you could do everything,”
he says.
In 1978, local law firms took note when Bryan Cave announced it
was opening an office in Washington, D.C., and soon after, in Los
Angeles. “My firm had no plans to do that,” Metcalfe says. “I realized
the status quo wasn’t enough. I could not bring my clients any competitive
advantage without the resources, experience and informed perspective
that Bryan Cave could bring to the table. I thought, if I can’t
beat them, I’ll join them,” which he did in 1982. Soon after, Metcalfe
joined Bryan Cave’s executive committee. In 1994, he was elected
the firm’s chairman.
Walter Metcalf introduces Bryan Cave Partner, Jack
Danforth at the Woodrow Wilson Award Dinner. Danforth
received an award for public service. |
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CONTINUED GROWTH
In some ways, Bryan Cave hasn’t moved very far since it was founded
in 1873: the current headquarters is across the street from the
original office.
But in other significant ways, Bryan Cave is dramatically different
than it was even a couple of decades ago. The firm has more than
800 lawyers (250 in St. Louis) and 1,000 staff in nine offices in
the United States and seven spread from London to the Middle East
to China. One of the 35 largest law firms in the world, Bryan Cave
posted $350 million in revenues in 2002.
“The growth initiative came from following or anticipating the interests
of our clients,” Metcalfe says. “The original expansion to Washington
D.C. was a fairly obvious case. What goes on in the nation’s capitol
influences the affairs of most of our clients. The opening of the
Los Angeles office was dictated by McDonnell Aircraft acquiring
Douglas Aircraft. Subsequent growth has been based on the same kinds
of practice and client considerations.”
Bryan Cave’s most recent expansion came about last year when it
merged with the 170 lawyer New York-based firm of Robinson Silverman
Pearce Aronsohn & Berman. Bryan Cave now has 235 lawyers in New
York. Metcalfe explains, the merger “met the strategic needs of
each firm. They have many clients who required a larger footprint
than New York and more special expertise, and we in turn needed
critical mass and depth in New York.” He adds, not one partner left
either firm as a result of the merger “and that’s quite unusual.”
BIG ISSUES
Applying the law to multi-cultural, multi-jurisdictional and multi-national
transactions is the major challenge facing law firms today, Metcalfe
says. “We believe most of our clients need a certain set of resources,
a certain technology core and perspectives that we can provide by
being a diverse firm,” he says. “In this economy, even companies
considered ‘local’ can have offshore and national interests.”
A recent example is Bryan Cave’s work on behalf of St. Louis-based
Energizer, which recently acquired the Wilkinson and Schick brands
from Pfizer. “That was a billion-dollar transaction with simultaneous
closings in almost 40 countries as well as the U.S., and we were
able to handle it completely,” Metcalfe says.
Another key issue, Metcalfe says, is continuing to develop the application
of technology in the practice of law. “Technology has increased
the productivity of lawyers equal or more to that of any other industry,”
Metcalfe says. “In addition to accelerating our productivity, technology
facilitates our mobility, speed and connection to our clients…fitting
with the way we practice as a single firm with long-term relationships.
Simply stated, we can do more for our clients when everyone knows
what everyone else is doing.”
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Metcalfe usually takes the steps instead of the elevator
as he traverses Bryan Cave’s floors 32-39. |
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Ned Lemkemeier, partner at Bryan Cave, notes that “the way we deliver
law services through technology applications really places tremendous
demands on the firm. But Walter has been very insightful in terms
of applying technology to operate the firm more efficiently.” According
to Metcalfe, while the size and geographic footprint of the firm
are advantages, “they are lost if we cannot quickly bring the right
resources to bear for our clients. Technology allows us to practice
law and manage the law firm with greater precision.”
ONE FIRM
Besides not straying far from its original location, Bryan Cave
has not strayed at all from its “one firm” philosophy, Metcalfe
says. “We’ve inherited some real values on how we interact with
each other. First and foremost we are one firm. Offices are not
profit centers, nor are practice groups. That encourages sharing
resources and knowledge across geographic and practice boundaries—to
the benefit of our clients.”
Another core value at Bryan Cave is treating your colleague the
way you’d treat your best client. “All sorts of good behavior cascades
from that thought,” he says. “I’m not suggesting we always succeed
in this, but it’s a very meaningful message.” Metcalfe notes, his
predecessor, the late Bill Van Cleve, was the 13th lawyer in the
firm when he joined Bryan Cave. “It was a simpler world to live
in, and there was a way of acting and reacting to each other that
was sound, and based on mutual respect. As we opened in other cities
and grew in St. Louis, Bill treated people the same way and we do
so today. I think these values are the reason that Bryan Cave is
more than a one-generation firm.”
Bryan Cave law-yers extend the one-firm philosophy to their clients
as well, Metcalfe says. Unlike many firms that are project-by-project
based, Bryan Cave remains relationship-based. “It is part of our
standard operation that we understand the goals and objectives of
our clients. We want to invest with them and grow with them and
anticipate their needs,” he says. That certainly has been the case
with long-term client McDonnell Aircraft. “We grew with them from
1939 to the point where we now represent the Boeing Company and
it’s a primary client of the firm,” Metcalfe says, adding Emerson
has been a client since 1918. “Our people derive a great deal of
personal and professional satisfaction from the success of our clients,
and we want to be part of that success, not just one lawsuit or
one deal.”
LOCAL LANDMARKS
Metcalfe and his colleagues have been part of many success stories
in the St. Louis region. Several are sports-related. He represented
the City of St. Louis in acquiring the Arena and represented limited
partners of the St. Louis Blues. He then served as lead lawyer in
organizing Kiel Center Partners L.P., building Kiel Center and acquiring
the Blues, and then the sale of Kiel Center and the Blues to the
Laurie interests.
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eCave is the firm’s intranet. According to Ned Lemkemeier,
partner at Bryan Cave, “Walter has been very insightful
in terms of applying technology to operate the firm
more efficiently.” |
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Metcalfe also represented the St. Louis NFL group in establishing
legislation and financing for the Edward Jones Dome expansion to
the St. Louis Convention Center. “That involved bringing together
the city, county, state and Civic Progress companies that committed
to the boxes, to show the NFL that this was an area that would support
NFL football,” he says.
Equally important was keeping all of these facilities downtown.
“That was a major part of the exercise, making sure these facilities
were centered and not spread out, so we would not compete with ourselves
in the region,” Metcalfe says. “We do that enough, without adding
sports to the picture.”
Additionally, Metcalfe represented the Missouri Botanical Garden,
Monsanto Company, Purdue University, the University of Illinois,
the University of Missouri and Washington University in developing
the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. “Walter has been engaged
very early in the challenge to redirect the economy of the state
to focus more intently on life and plant sciences,” says Dr. Roger
A. Beachy, president of the Center. “His energy and knowledge base
in all aspects of law, both legislative and real estate, were vital.”
Metcalfe also represented the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in
developing its properties in Grand Center, which he also helped
organize. Notes former St. Louis Mayor Vince Schoemehl, president
and CEO of Grand Center, “Walter provides the most important component
of being a good attorney: he manages the client and the client’s
interests. I’d come up with an idea or initiative and he’d be several
time zones ahead of me in terms of some of the downstream issues
we’d run into. He also has the ability to translate the law into
practical language so everyone around the table can understand,
and that’s a unique set of skills.”
Companies like Sigma-Aldrich and TALX have grown in part due to
their association with Metcalfe and Bryan Cave. CEO Bill Canfield
says as a public company, the legal needs of TALX involve compliance
issues, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, Securities
and Exchange Commission filings and more. “Bryan Cave has been able
to handle all those areas for us,” he says. “As big as the firm
has become, and with all the responsibilities he has to think about,
Walter will call me to point out an issue I need to be aware of.
I haven’t fallen off his radar screen.”
STYLE AND SUBSTANCE
Metcalfe estimates he spends about 15 percent of his time practicing
law. The rest of the time he manages the firm, with the help of
the executive committee, the policy-making board of the firm, and
the operating group, who handle the day-to-day issues. “I certainly,
absolutely miss practicing law,” Metcalfe acknowledges.
To keep in touch with his colleagues, “We e-mail the heck out of
each other,” Metcalfe says. He also utilizes eCave, the firm’s intranet.
Most days Metcalfe works 8 to 8. He puts in “a lot of computer time,
a lot of telephone time and meeting time,” he says. “My position,
not necessarily me, requires that I be the final arbiter of issues
like planning, investing the resources of the firm and resolving
legal conflicts. With a firm of our size, one client may not like
what another is doing, so we sort those things out.”
Metcalfe also spends a significant amount of time on the road, visiting
clients and Bryan Cave offices. “Clients seldom come to your office
anymore,” he says. “But we have a desire and a need to be very much
a part of our communities, not to be a fly-away firm. I think that
involvement adds to our strength. We don’t just offer expertise
for sale on an airplane. We are part of our community and part of
the profession.”
INVOLVED AND VISIBLE
Metcalfe is very much a part of the community through his service
on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Children’s
Hospital and Washington University. He’s also an officer of the
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and a director of the Pulitzer
Foundation for the Arts. “The Center represents a very powerful
leveraging of the assets of St. Louis. So does the Pulitzer Foundation
which is Emily Pulitzer’s vision,” Metcalfe says. “I enjoy being
involved in those places where there’s a multi- plier effect.”
Metcalfe has been a member of the executive committee of the RCGA
for several years. He believes the organization is among the few
that can “bring the community together, all the disparate parts,
and speak in a common voice,” he says. “We’re all very proud of
our own local community that’s one of 200-plus that make up the
metropolitan area. But more than occasionally we have to come together
with a real business outlook and remember the region actually competes
with other worthy centers all over the world.”
In particular, Metcalfe believes the RCGA “can put the strength
of its entire organization behind its BioBelt and life sciences
initiatives and really build momentum,” he says. “Especially in
these economic times, we can’t rely on local, state or the federal
government. The geopolitical issues involved with plant and life
sciences affect us every day.”
LOOKING FORWARD
“Somewhere in the world, there’s always a Bryan Cave office open,”
Metcalfe notes. Despite that, he manages most weekends to escape
to his country house in Warren County where he can hike, bicycle
and clear brush. Metcalfe’s wife, Cynthia, is a member of the Missouri
Conservation Commission. The couple has two children and two grandchildren.
Their daughter is a lawyer in Chicago and their son is a web site
designer in New York City.
Back at Bryan Cave, Metcalfe says “the firm is very well positioned
for the next generation.” He notes, “one thing the partners will
not accept is complacency. That is really exciting, because it forces
us to concentrate on what we can become, not where we have been.”
And “what we can become” depends on everyone pulling together. “You
can’t have a collection of entrepreneurs anymore,” Metcalfe says.
“You have to be very institutional and goal focused to benefit clients
today.”
All in all, the man who always wanted to be a lawyer is content
with his decision. “I expect it will be more exciting and rewarding
for the Bryan Cave lawyers of the next generation however. As technology
accelerates the compiling of knowledge, and knowledge is taken for
granted, Bryan Cave’s ability to sustain will be based on a willingness
to listen and to operate in partnership with clients. That’s more
like being a lawyer in the good old days.”
Pam Droog is a frequent contributor to St. Louis Commerce Magazine.
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