Pamela Meanes

Pam is an experienced litigator, negotiator, and trusted advisor. She is a strong advocate, providing guidance on the legal issues surrounding construction projects, construction project management, buildings, and real estate acquisitions. She possesses extensive knowledge from her experiences representing energy companies, utilities, municipalities, and large corporate clients in high-value construction projects and real estate matters. She provides legal guidance to her clients on a variety of issues, including:

- Analyzing potential risk and liabilities

- Architect and engineering consultant liability

- Assessment of contract terms Commercial leases

- Construction delays, variations, defects

- Disaster management procedures

- Preliminary contract negotiations between owners and design consultants and owners and construction contractors

- Owner Procurement processes Purchase, sale, or transfer of commercial and residential property

Pam is a first-chair trial lawyer and has supervised large discovery teams in high-stakes, high-profile litigation. She has extensive experience representing landowners and condemning authorities in significant disputes regarding land acquisitions, infrastructure expansions, large-scale construction and capital projects. Pam's experience as a litigator and negotiator includes:

- Managed and negotiated various land, easement and right of way acquisitions for energy companies and water utilities

- Managed and negotiated over 200 complex land acquisitions for a major transportation expansion in Southern Illinois, City of St. Louis and St. Louis County. This included property acquisitions, negotiated easements and rights of way, and resolution of zoning and building issues

- Experience representing clients in disputes involving boundaries, easements, adverse possession, and quiet title

- Represented client in several retail lease and sublease disputes

- Supervised discovery teams consisting of numerous attorneys, paralegals and supporting staff in multi-million dollar construction breach of contract case

- Successfully first-chaired complex jury trial involving construction defect related to a newly installed sanitary sewer pipe in a floodplain and successfully defended client against a counterclaim regarding the same

In addition to her construction and real estate litigation practice, Pam has successfully defended business managers and entities in racial and gender discrimination cases. Moreover, she has held numerous leadership positions with the National Bar Association (NBA), the nation's largest African American bar association, including her service as the NBA's 2014-2015 President. She used her platform as president of the nation's largest African American bar association to advocate for national standards for police use of force, voting rights, equal justice, education as a new civil right, and a more diverse judiciary.