Leonard J. Essig

As a corporate attorney, Leonard J. Essig advises banks, savings associations, investment advisers, and other financial service providers. He is knowledgeable in a broad range of matters such as regulatory compliance and enforcement; executive compensation; mergers and acquisitions; and the structure, authority, and activities of his clients’ companies and their affiliates. Len also advises companies in a wide range of industries on general corporate and securities matters including corporate governance, public company reporting and securities compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and public offering and private placement securities transactions.

Prior to joining Lewis Rice in 1993, Len was an attorney for the Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington, DC. He is a frequent speaker on banking and financial services issues and was selected for inclusion in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® 2005. Additionally, Len has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2013-2020.

Our representation of banks, bank holding companies, thrifts, and other financial institutions is the largest single industry concentration within our client base. We represent a wide variety of large, mid-size, and small financial institutions in many regions throughout the country, including serving as a preferred outside counsel for one of the nation’s largest banks.

We represent financial industry clients according to their diverse needs such as:

• Lending and other financing transactions
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Securities offerings and compliance
• Regulatory compliance and enforcement
• Bankruptcy, workouts, collection, and other litigation
• De novo bank formation
• Lender liability
• Labor and employment matters
• Federal, state, and local taxation
• Real estate and construction