JAMES R. WYRSCH

Founding Member

Jim practices in the area of commercial litigation, employment advice and litigation, and commercial transactions. Prior to founding KW Law, he spent eight years at a large, international law firm, specializing in commercial litigation of various types, including contract and complex tort claims, class and collective actions, labor and employment, and white-collar defense and investigations. Jim has also represented numerous clients pro bono, even helping to win the freedom of a man finally declared innocent after 16 years in prison.

In the beginning of his career, Jim served as a judicial clerk to the Hon. William R. Price, Jr. of the Missouri Supreme Court, held a two-year clinical graduate fellowship at Georgetown University Law Center in the Criminal Justice Clinic, and served as an assistant public defender with the Missouri State Public Defender’s office in St. Louis, Missouri.

Jim has a deep appreciation for social justice, technology, history, music, and sports. He lives with his wife, son Teddy, and two dogs in the Shaw neighborhood of the City of St. Louis.

EDUCATION

New York University – J.D. (2001)
Saint Louis University – B.A., Computer Science and Russian Studies, magna cum laude (1998)

LEGAL BACKGROUND

Associate, Bryan Cave (2005-2014)
Assistant Public Defender, Missouri State Public Defender (2004-2005)
Prettyman Fellow, Criminal Justice Clinic, Georgetown University Law Center (2002-2004)
Judicial Clerk, Hon. William R. Price, Jr., Missouri Supreme Court (2001-2002)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

American Bar Association
ArchCity Defenders, Board Member
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
City Garden Montessori School, Member of Anti-Bias/Anti-Racism Committee
Leadership St. Louis program by FOCUS St. Louis, Participant 2015-16 
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Member of Young Friends Steering Committee

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND PRESS

• Bryan Cave Team Helps Free Man Wrongfully Imprisoned For Murder, (March 11, 2009)
• How Municipalities in St. Louis County, Mo., Profit from Poverty, Washington Post (September 3, 2014)

ADMISSIONS AND DISTINCTIONS

Missouri (2001)
District of Columbia (2002)
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Eighth Circuit
United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, and Central and Southern Districts of Illinois
Award from the Foundation for Improvement of Justice, Inc. (2010)
Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers (2012-2014)
Missouri Lawyers Weekly Up & Coming Lawyers (2011)