Walther elected Bar president
Missouri Lawyers Weekly
Reprinted with permission
A colorful map of Missouri is perhaps the most striking object in Harold “Skip” Walther’s law office in Columbia. Each county is shaded in bright colors on the map, a gift to Walther in the 1980s. It might be the best harbinger for his impending endeavor.
Walther, who focuses on real estate and property law, was elected president of the Missouri Bar on Sept. 23.
Despite potentially daunting challenges, Walther said he’s ready to lead the organization representing lawyers practicing at every point. “I really like practicing law; I like representing my clients,” Walther said. “And I don’t think there’s a great deal of difference in being a president of a group because you’re basically representing their interests.”
The coming storm
Walther assumes the presidency as clouds hover over the legal community. The weak economy has made the job market difficult for attorneys, and it has lowered the amount of state resources available to the judicial system.
Walther said one priority is the public defender system, which he says is in crisis. Lawyers within the Missouri State Public Defender System have said they don’t have enough staff to keep up with its caseload.
Although the public defender’s office received additional funds this year to hire more attorneys, the agency’s main legislative goal — putting a caseload cap into statute — was thwarted with Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto. Prosecutors and judges who openly questioned whether the agency had a caseload “crisis” played a role in calling on Nixon to veto the bill.
Nixon has said he hopes to procure more funding for the public defender system. And Walther, who noted that Missouri ranks lower than other states in funding per lawyer in the public defender system, said the General Assembly must act.
“It creates a great difficulty in attracting competent and hardworking people when they’re being paid far less than they deserve to be paid,” Walther said.
Cathy Kelly, the state’s deputy public defender, said in the past the bar has been helpful in funding studies of the agency’s caseload. She also said the leaders of the bar can help pull warring sides together.
“I think their assistance has been valuable in helping bring coalitions together and raising awareness of a problem and trying to show that it’s not us versus them, it’s the whole system that’s sinking or swimming,” Kelly said.
Dwight Scroggins, Buchanan County’s prosecutor, said Walther should focus on the ailments of the entire criminal justice system.
“We are in an inflationary time for the entire criminal justice system. The numbers keep growing for everyone — including the courts, prosecutors and the public defender system,” Scroggins said.
Beyond leading meetings of the bar’s Board of Governors and serving as the chief representative for the bar, Walther will assume some responsibility in presenting a legal agenda in Jefferson City. Declining revenues and scarce resources could make it difficult, he said, to fully fund the judiciary and the public defender system.
Walther said he will work with legislators who are cognizant of the legal community’s problems.
“There are some fairly young new members of the General Assembly who are attorneys,” Walther said. “It’s easy for us to communicate with them because they understand what it means to be an attorney.”
Court plan fight
Of all of the potential issues, the fight over the future of Missouri’s Nonpartisan Court Plan could define Walther’s term as president.
Better Courts for Missouri introduced a ballot item this year that would effectively scrap the way the state chooses some of its judges. If the group’s constitutional amendment passes in the 2010 election cycle, governors would appoint judges in certain areas, and the Missouri Senate would have the final say in seating them.
The bar has been adamantly opposed to changing the Nonpartisan Court Plan. And Walther has picked up the mantle of defending the plan in public forums.
Although opponents of the current plan say the current system is unaccountable and favors trial attorneys, Walther said efforts to change the plan would give more power to people with political considerations.
“We believe, and we continue to believe, that this attempt to change the system of judicial selection in the state of Missouri is based upon partisan considerations and not based on substantive complaints,” Walther said.
James Harris, a Republican political consultant who is the executive director of Better Courts for Missouri, said the bar wants to keep the current system because it would keep attorneys in a dominant position for judicial selection.
“I’m sure Mr. Skip Walther’s a nice gentleman personally,” Harris said. “We have a disagreement on public policy and where we can improve the courts.” Walther’s public persona is on display as a regular panelist on the CBT “Sunday Morning Roundtable” on KFRU. The weekly radio talk show delves into issues affecting state and city government.
David Shorr, a Columbia attorney who works for Lathrop & Gage, is another regular panelist on the show. He said Walther sometimes acts as his “foil” on the air.
“It’s fun to joust with him,” Shorr said. “He is not an absolutist. He is somewhat malleable, which makes it a little easier on a Sunday morning to put up with it.”
Shorr said Walther is a “challenging advocate” who will be a strong proponent for attorneys around the state. Walther particularly will be a fierce defender of the Nonpartisan Court Plan.
“He’s very knowledgeable about it,” Shorr said, “and he’s very passionate about it as well.”
Walther has a deep, soothing voice most of the time. But he can become intense when he’s talking about controversial issues — such as the Nonpartisan Court Plan.
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said Walther has a “competitive” edge that will help him when he becomes the bar’s president. He said that will be especially helpful when he deals with hot-button topics.
“He will push the bar to get things done,” Kelly said. “Skip doesn’t want to sit around in meetings that aren’t going anywhere. He wants to have a goal and accomplish it.”
With what he calls “significant issues” on the horizon, Walther said it makes sense to involve as many people as possible when formulating policy or making decisions.
“You have to involve as many people as you can — get as many ideas as you can — so you can try to cover all the bases,” Walther said.
Rising through the ranks
Born in Jefferson City, Skip Walther was interested in becoming a lawyer from an early age. His mother was a legal secretary, and his uncle Jim Butcher was a lawyer who served as Boone County’s presiding judge, a position now known as the Boone County presiding commissioner.
(In an e-mail to CBT, Walther said his uncle practiced with Cullen Cline, Ann Covington and Bill Mallory for several years, and the annual Boone County Bar picnic held in September is named in his honor. “Jim’s most famous case involved the Oakland Gravel road tax bill issue,” Walther said. “Jim challenged the city’s method of charging property owners for street improvements and won in appellate court, and it caused the city to change the way it bills property owners for taxes. Everyone thought he was tilting at windmills in that case.”)
Even though he lived in Kirksville when he was growing up, Walther said he spent every weekend at his uncle’s house in Columbia.
“I was exposed to lawyers throughout my junior high and high school years,” Walther said. “And I just always kind of thought that’s what I wanted to do.”
After graduating law school from the University of Missouri, Walther became an assistant prosecuting attorney in Boone County. Russell Still, a former public defender who is now an attorney for the Columbia-based Harlan, Harlan & Still law firm, recalls going head-to-head with Walther in the courtroom.
“He went at you hard,” Still said. “He was always well-prepared and had all the arguments. He was very aggressive in asking the jury to get him a guilty verdict.”
Still said Walther’s experience as an assistant prosecutor will gave him a good understanding of the legal system, particularly the issues afflicting public defenders.
“I think he’ll be a good advocate for that, because he’s been there,” Still said. “He’s been there trying burglary cases. And I think he’s always realized and always said that you need good lawyers on both sides of those cases because sometimes mistakes are made, and every once in a while you get some not-guilty verdicts in there because they got the wrong guy.”
Since entering private practice in 1982, Walther has focused on real estate, estate planning and corporate law at the Columbia-based firm of Walther, Antel, Stamper & Fischer. Also, he has been active in civic activities.
Among other things, Walther’s résumé lists involvement in the Cub Scouts and a role as a bingo caller at the Cosmopolitan Club in Columbia. It also lists his participation on the board of directors for the Columbia Special Business District.
Although he’s coached baseball, softball, basketball and soccer, Walther is perhaps best known for his tennis abilities, Still said. Walther, who has tennis awards strewn around his office, also serves as a private and volunteer coach for those interested in the sport.