Lauren Wacker concentrates her practice on commercial, real estate, appellate and tort litigation. Lauren has significant experience in all aspects of the litigation process, including pre-trial investigation and dispute resolution, motion practice, trials and appeals. She has represented clients in both state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Missouri and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Lauren’s clients span from multinational Fortune 500 companies to local, family-owned companies, including real estate developers, lenders, loan servicers, large-scale lessors, small businesses, large-scale manufacturers, and railroads. Among her many successes is her defense of a mortgage lender against a class action petition seeking to compel a change in Missouri law. The plaintiffs advocated that a mortgage lender should be liable for the unauthorized practice of law if it procured form legal documents from a third party without the assistance and review of a Missouri-licensed attorney. After obtaining summary judgment in the lender’s favor, Lauren drafted the winning respondent brief before the Supreme Court of Missouri, resulting in a published opinion (Binkley v. American Equity Mortgage, Inc., 447 S.W.3d 194 (Mo. 2014)). 

Lauren’s significant experience in eminent domain law includes representing both condemning authorities and landowners sued in condemnation. Her condemnation experience includes litigation across Missouri at both the trial court level and the appellate level.  Her jury trial experience includes the defense of a real estate redeveloper in a two-week jury trial involving a complex redevelopment transaction, which resulted in a favorable defense verdict in excess of $8 million. Lauren also helped obtain a $4.5 million verdict on behalf of a national transportation company in a three-day jury condemnation trial in St. Louis City. 

In addition to litigation, Lauren is a volunteer lawyer for the Midwest Innocence Project. Along with firm colleagues, Lauren helped prepare a petition for writ of habeas corpus, leading to the release of a woman who spent 26 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of capital murder when she was just 16.

A lifelong resident of the City of St. Louis and daughter of a former city police officer, Lauren has deep community roots and actively supports a number of local and regional nonprofits.

Areas of Focus

Services

Credentials

Education

  • Saint Louis University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 2009)
    • St. Louis University School of Law, Order of the Woolsack
    • St. Louis University School of Law Academic Achievement Awards in State and Local Government, Land Use Controls and Intellectual Property
    • Editor, St. Louis Public Law Review
  • Truman State University (B.A., cum laude, 2006)

Bar Admissions

  • Missouri

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of Illinois

Recognitions

  • Up and Coming Attorneys, Pro Bono, Missouri Lawyers Weekly, 2019
  • MS Corporate Achievers Program, Corporate Achiever Honoree

Publications

  • Co-author, A Primer on the Missouri Business Judgment Rule - A Powerful Protection for Business Decisions, St. Louis ACC In-House, October 4, 2016

Professional Activities

  • American Bar Association
  • The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
  • The Missouri Bar

Community Involvement

  • Boys Hope Girls Hope St. Louis, Past Junior Board Member; Active Supporter
  • Loyola Academy of St. Louis, Junior Friends Board Member