Kellner, Gayle Thomasson

James R. Keller concentrates his practice on complex litigation, construction, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and real estate. He has a B.J. from the University of Missouri (1977) and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law (1980). He has tried more than 100 civil cases in state and federal courts and in arbitration, lasting from one day to nine months. He has briefed and argued more than fifteen cases before various state and federal appellate courts. He also applies his trial experience as an arbitrator, mediator and neutral evaluator with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and in handling private disputes. He is a member of AAA’s Construction Arbitrator Master Panel (top 100 in country) and Large Complex Case Panel. Mr. Keller has been an arbitrator in more than 140 cases involving construction and business disputes and a mediator in more than 60 such cases. He has served as the Privilege Master in several large arbitrations to review documents (in excess of 100,000 documents) for privilege issues and to resolve disputes over document production. He has negotiated and drafted complex construction contracts for various electric utility companies on both national and international matters involving power plants, as well as contracts to create alliances between utility companies and large general contractors for environmental update work exceeding $1,000,000,000.

He has written more than 100 articles for various bar journals and trade publications on ADR, construction law, real estate, consumer fraud and trial practice. Mr. Keller is the author of Arbitration and Mediation (MoBar 2011) and Home/Land Owners Experience Bumpy Legal Road Since 2009, appearing in The St. Louis Bar Journal, Spring 2011. He also writes the legal column for the St. Louis Construction News and Review.

Mr. Keller is the co-chair of the Construction Law Committee and former chair of the Business Law Section of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the chair of the Construction Advisory Committee of AAA (St. Louis Region) and the chair of the ADR Committee of The Missouri Bar. He also has been a speaker at more than 70 seminars.

He is listed as a Super Lawyer in Missouri and Kansas from 2006 to present for Construction Litigation, the Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition from 2008 to present, and the Super Lawyers 2012 Business Edition.  He also is a member of the Society of Illinois Construction Attorneys (SOICA).