Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

• Jack Craft, formerly of Craft Fridkin & Rhyne, merged his firm with Lathrop & Gage in 2004.
• He served as the Chairman of the 1990 New Zoo Committee formed to pass the bonds necessary to finance the Zoo.  In 1996, he was Chairman of the Missouri Task Force for the Bistate Initiative and the Missouri Chairman and Treasurer of Yes On Union Station.
• In 2004 Jack Craft was the Vice Chair for the Bistate II Initiative and the Campaign Chairman and Treasurer of the Missouri Think Big Committee.
• Most recently Jack worked together with many organizations, including DST, the Internal Revenue Service and the Post Office, to negotiate the development of a new IRS Service Center in the former Main Post Office space in Kansas City, Missouri.  To do that, he helped negotiate a process through which the GSA and the IRS were able to achieve Congressional authorization and approval for a long-term lease for the IRS Service Center.  It allowed the Postal Service to find better use for an older facility, the IRS to open a new Service Center and relocate employees of the Post Office to Union Station.
• Representing the Alexander Company in the complex redevelopment of numerous Kansas City urban properties in connection with a $45 million redevelopment project, which includes the use of incentives through the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority, the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, state and federal historic tax credits, Brownfields Remediation Grants, and affordable housing tax credits.
• Serves as counsel to the Director of the Missouri Department of Insurance for receivership proceedings involving several Missouri-domiciled insolvent insurance companies.
• Formerly served with the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
• Former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Missouri.

Areas of Practice

• Biotechnology & Life Science
• Government Relations
• Financial Institutions
• Real Estate
• Land Use, Zoning and Development
• Insurance

West Practice Categories

Banking & Finance Law, Government Agencies & Programs, Real Estate Law

Bar Admissions

• Missouri, 1965

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Board Member, Family and Community Trust (FACT), 2005 to present
• Federation of Regulatory Counsel; Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society (associate member)
• Member, Board of Directors, Hawthorn Foundation
• Member, Local Investment Commission
• Co-Chair of the FOCUS Kansas City Governance Work Team
• Former member, Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the K.C. Chamber of Commerce
• Former member of the Boards of Directors of: Research Hospital; Research School of Nursing; Citizens for Missouri's Children; Family and Children Services of Kansas City; and Friends of the Zoo
• Chairman, Port Authority of Kansas City (1987-1988)
• Former Chairman of the Public Improvements Advisory Committee of Kansas City
• Former member, Board of the Kansas City Planned Industrial Expansion Authority

Honors and Awards

• Selected among The Best Lawyers in America®, 2008-2010
• Mr. Craft was named among the 175 most influential people in the history of Jackson County by the Jackson County Historical Society (2001)
• Board of Editors, Northwestern University Law Review (1964-1965)
• Martindale-Hubbell® "AV" Rating

Education

• Northwestern University School of Law, 1965
  J.D.
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1961
  A.B.

Published Works

• 56 Lathrop & Gage Attorneys Named Best Lawyers in America, 2009
• PBS News Hour Features Jack Craft in Special Program on U.S. Economy, 2009
• Federal stimulus package creates opportunity for business, 2009
• Ingram's Magazine Names Jack Craft a "Kansas City Legend", 2009
• National Best Lawyers Roster Includes 50 Lathrop & Gage Attorneys, 2008
• Jackson County completes bond sale for Sports Complex, 2006
• Jack Craft Appointed to FACT Board, 2005
• Lathrop & Gage Launches Expanded Government Relations Practice, 2004
• Craft Fridkin & Rhyne, LLC Merging with Lathrop & Gage L.C., 2003

Address

2345 Grand Blvd.
Suite 2800
Kansas City, MO 64108

Phones

(816) 460-5701 (Business Phone)

Faxes

(816) 292-2001 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.lathropgage.com/