Spencer Fane is pleased to announce Brian Bear has joined the Kansas City office as of counsel in the Government Relations practice group. This will be Bear’s second stint as an attorney with the firm.
Prior to joining Spencer Fane in 2016, Bear worked in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office as an assistant attorney general in the Complex Litigation Unit of the Consumer Protection Division. He gained valuable courtroom experience representing the State of Missouri in numerous high-profile investigations and cases, including the largest identity theft case in state history at the time.
As a result, Bear also obtained the longest sentence for a first-time offender under the statute in state history.
“We are pleased to welcome Brian back to Spencer Fane. His experience will be an undeniable asset to the government relations team at our firm,” Spencer Fane Managing Partner Patrick J. Whalen said. “Spencer Fane remains committed to providing the legal services needed to handle our clients’ most challenging matters and adding capable litigators to this practice group further strengthens our bench.”
Bear also has experience arguing before the Missouri Supreme Court in cases related to the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. His work highlights include managing discovery in a case involving nearly 1.8 million pages of evidence and overseeing depositions of key fact witnesses in four states in a securities fraud prosecution of $39 million in defaulted municipal bonds and mediating complaints between victims of the 2011 Joplin, Mo., tornado and national mortgage servicers.
Bear’s accolades include the Attorney General’s Award for Extraordinary Service, the Consumer Protection Division’s Award of Recognition and the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Litigation. He completed his undergraduate studies and earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia where he was on the Editorial Board for the Missouri Law Review, w and a member of the Board of Advocates, and inducted into the Order of the Coif.
Immediately prior to re-joining the firm, Bear served as General Counsel for the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the primary state agency responsible for business, community and workforce development. In that role, he oversaw the annual expenditure of more than $500 million in state tax credit programs and negotiated several billion dollars worth of redevelopment, retention and business site selection projects with local and international firms on behalf of the State of Missouri.