Spencer Fane Attorney Kathleen M. Whitby named 2013 'Top Rated Lawyer'

Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP has announced that Kathleen M. “Kate” Whitby, an attorney of counsel in the firm’s St. Louis office, has been named a “2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Environmental Law” by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell and American Lawyer Media.

Whitby concentrates her practice in environmental law, real estate, dispute resolution and complex litigation. She has more than 25 years of experience focused primarily on problem-solving for environmental regulation, contamination and cleanup projects, and works as a third-party neutral as well as an attorney in private practice.

She serves as national counsel for clients with CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, CAA, UST, Brownfields and other environmental regulatory program challenges. She acts as the legal representative on multi-disciplinary client teams faced with environmental problems and litigation projects, and participates in strategic decision-making processes involving business, technical, supervisory and management representatives.

Whitby serves as her clients’ representative in multi-party groups engaged in litigation and administrative proceedings. She also manages coordination and communication tasks needed to keep clients informed and capable of moving forward.

In addition to representing clients in environmental litigation, cleanup cases and real estate projects, Whitby is approved as a third party neutral (mediator, arbitrator) for roster panels maintained by the U.S. Institute of Environmental Conflict Resolution, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and U.S. Arbitration & Mediation - Midwest.

Since 2004, Whitby has been an adjunct professor at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she teaches mediation, dispute resolution and multi-party negotiation. She is a frequent speaker and moderator at national and local bar association meetings and conferences, and is former chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Coordinating Group on ADR. In 2011, she was honored with a Women's Justice Award by Missouri Lawyer's Weekly, a leading legal publication.

Whitby earned a J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and is a graduate of Benedictine College. She can be reached at 314-333-3929 or via email at kwhitby@spencerfane.com.

To identify top rated lawyers for 2013, LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, which is a preeminent information services company for the legal profession, reviewed its database of Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings to discover lawyers rated by their peers to be AV Preeminent – the highest Peer Review Rating available. Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings are driven by confidential opinions of attorneys and members of the judiciary surveyed by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell to provide reviews of lawyers of whom they have professional knowledge. Martindale-Hubbell American Lawyer Media is teaming with LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell to publish the 2013 top rated lawyer distinctions in the April edition of The American Lawyer magazine and other publications.

Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP is a full service, regional law firm with offices in St. Louis, Jefferson City and Kansas City, Mo., Overland Park, Kan., Omaha, Neb. and Denver.