Missouri Lawyers Media has selected Baker Sterchi Member Paul Venker to receive its 2021 ICON Award.
Venker is among 28 distinguished men and women age 60 and older recognized for an exemplary legal career, longstanding commitment to the Missouri legal community, and success beyond the field of law. The 2021 honorees include founding partners, firm leaders, and former public officials, all of whom hold or have held senior positions with significant decision-making authority for their firm or organization.
Venker has been a practicing attorney for over 40 years, including serving as a Missouri Supreme Court law clerk to a Chief Justice, an Assistant Litigation Counsel for Monsanto, and a private practice attorney.
His career in private practice has been focused on trial and appellate practice. He has taken dozens of trials to verdict in a variety of matters and is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates. Since first arguing an appeal before the Missouri Supreme Court in 1985, Venker has briefed and/or argued nearly 40 appeals in numerous appellate courts. Missouri Lawyers Media recently included Venker in its POWER List of Appellate Law Attorneys and has previously recognized him as an Influential Appellate Advocate. Venker also conducts mediations as a neutral for the United States District Court for the Eastern District and other courts in Missouri and Illinois.
In 2001, Venker co-founded the St. Louis headquartered firm of Williams Venker & Sanders, serving as Managing Partner for the majority of the time before its merger with Baker Sterchi in 2018. At Baker Sterchi, Venker serves on the firm’s Strategic Planning Committee, Compensation Committee, and Attorney Training and Development Committee.
Venker is active in the legal community, currently serving as Chairman of the Freedom Suits Steering Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors and a past president of the St. Louis Bar Foundation. Early in his career, he served as a member of the Missouri Bar Board of Governors and the Young Lawyers Section Counsel of the Missouri Bar.
Venker has been recognized by Chambers USA for his commercial litigation work; Best Lawyers in America® for his work in the areas of Employment Law, Medical Malpractice, and Personal Injury; and Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers, a distinction given to only the top five percent of Missouri and Kansas lawyers.
Missouri Lawyers Media will recognized honorees for their accomplishments at the fourth annual ICON Awards luncheon in August at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. Honorees also will be profiled in print and online in a special section of Missouri Lawyers Weekly.
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