As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 1998, W. Russell Welsh has guided the firm through strategic growth that has positioned Polsinelli Shughart PC as a leading business and litigation law firm. During his leadership, the firm has increased from 90 attorneys to more than 530, was named one of the fastest growing law firms in the U.S., and is among the 100 largest firms in the nation. Under Welsh, the firm’s geographic presence has grown to include offices in St. Louis, Chicago, Phoenix, Denver, New York and Washington, D.C.
Mr. Welsh helped direct the expansion of the firm’s national practices in Financial Services, Real Estate, Business Law, and Litigation. Polsinelli Shughart has been cited as the No. 3 Real Estate law firm in the Midwest and has gained a national reputation for its work in Financial Services, Nonprofit Organizations, Life Sciences and Health Care law practices.
Mr. Welsh is formerly the chairman of the firm’s Trial Department. He has extensive trial experience in the areas of products liability, business torts, trade secrets, commercial, and bankruptcy litigation. He has acted as national and regional counsel for a number of Fortune 100 corporations. He has tried cases in 17 states and appeared in court in 33 states and the District of Columbia, and he is listed in Chambers USA as a Leading Business Lawyer in Business Litigation.
In addition to leading the firm, Mr. Welsh is active in the community and his civic involvement includes service on the boards of directors of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Community Blood Center, and he is Chairman of the Board of Starlight Theatre. He is chair elect of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Welsh is also past president, board of trustees, for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Mid-America Chapter. He has also served on the board of directors of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the Kansas City Area Development Council. He is a former chairman of an American Bar Association Products Liability Committee.
Before joining the firm, Mr. Welsh was a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, in Washington, D.C.