Former Missouri Speaker of the House Catherine Hanaway Leads the Group
Husch Blackwell is proud to announce the arrival of six new attorneys to its Government Compliance and Investigations team. Attorneys joining the St. Louis office on Sept. 3 are Partners Catherine Hanaway, Jeff Jensen and Matthew Schelp; Senior Counsel Lisa Ottolini; and Associate Matt Diehr. Partner Cynthia Cordes will join the Kansas City office on Sept. 30.
Hanaway leads the firm’s Government Compliance and Investigations team. A former Missouri Speaker of the House and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Hanaway brings significant experience litigating complex civil and white-collar criminal cases and representing clients in regulatory challenges.
Including the recently added Kevin McCart, a Partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, the firm’s group of attorneys dedicated solely to government compliance and investigations comprises nine attorneys, with more growth on the horizon.
“This team brings the perfect combination of skills, expertise and finesse to our firm,” says Greg Smith, CEO/Managing Partner of Husch Blackwell LLP. “They are tenacious, bright and savvy, and under Catherine’s leadership, this team will continue to accomplish great client successes at Husch Blackwell.”
Hanaway served as the first female Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives (2003-2005) and as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri (2005-2009) before returning to private practice with the Ashcroft Law Firm, a national law firm providing premium services to clients with crisis-magnitude disputes with the government, where her law partner was former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. She earned her J.D. from The Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America (1990) and began her legal career at the law firm Peper, Martin, Jensen, Maichel & Hetlage, a predecessor firm to Husch Blackwell. She earned her B.A. in Journalism from Creighton University (1987).
“When I left Peper Martin 20 years ago, the firm had about 100 attorneys in four offices,” Hanaway says. “Now, Husch Blackwell has offices in 16 U.S. cities, including three newly added locations in Texas, and an exciting strategic direction and industry focus. The firm’s focus on clients and deep immersion into their industries, their worlds and their issues is compelling, and I’m thrilled to join the team at this exciting time.”
Partner Jeff Jensen began his career as a CPA for PricewaterhouseCoopers, then served as an FBI agent (1989-1999) and as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri (1999-2009). He prosecuted many of St. Louis’ most notorious fraud cases and rose to the level of Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney. Most recently, Jensen practiced with Jensen Bartlett & Schelp, LLC, and as Senior Advisor to the Ashcroft Law Firm. In private practice, he has successfully defended many high-profile matters against the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He earned his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law (1998) and his B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University (1988).
Partner Matthew Schelp also spent part of his early legal career at a predecessor firm to the current-day Husch Blackwell. He earned his B.S. at the University of Missouri-Columbia (1992) and his J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law (1996). Schelp then served three years active duty in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and later joined Husch & Eppenberger. Schelp also served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, where he was the Securities Fraud Coordinator and the Deputy Health Care Fraud Coordinator. Most recently, he practiced with Jensen Bartlett & Schelp, LLC, and as Senior Advisor to the Ashcroft Law Firm.
Partner Cynthia Cordes previously served as Assistant U.S. Attorney, Western District of Missouri (2004-2013). While there, she led the U.S. Department of Justice’s efforts against human trafficking and spearheaded the multiagency task force. As the district’s head of the task force, she led over 20 federal and state law enforcement agencies and over 60 non-government service providers. She has prosecuted the most human trafficking cases of any Assistant U.S. Attorney in the country, which involved some of the most complex and contested prosecutions on behalf of the Department. She began her legal career as a trial attorney with the U.S. Attorney General Honors Program. Cordes earned her J.D. from University of Notre Dame Law School (2004) and her B.S. in Journalism from Boston University (2001).
Senior Counsel Lisa Ottolini most recently practiced with the Ashcroft Law Firm. She previously represented clients elsewhere in private practice; served as a psychotherapist with Lutheran Family and Children Services of Missouri; and served as Director of External Affairs for Washington University School of Law. She, too, worked at a predecessor firm to Husch Blackwell earlier in her career; immediately upon graduation from law school, she joined Peper, Martin, Jensen, Maichel & Hetlage. Ottolini earned her J.D. from Washington University School of Law (1990) and her B.A. from the University of Illinois (1987). She also earned her Masters of Social Work degree from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University (2001).
Associate Matt Diehr joins Husch Blackwell from the law firm Jensen, Bartlett & Schelp, LLC. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Saint Louis University School of Law (2009) and his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University (2006).