Kutak Rock Beefs up NW Presence

Three Fayetteville lawyers who represented Tyson Foods Inc. in 2000 during its trade-secrets battle with ConAgra Inc. — Ken Shemin, Ruth Ann Wisener and Jennifer B. Hendren — are among five lawyers who recently joined the Northwest Arkansas offices of Kutak Rock LLP.

Jennifer S. Brown and Robert W. George also joined the firm, which is based in Omaha, Neb., and boasts 300 lawyers nationwide. Combined with Kutak’s Arkansas headquarters in Little Rock, the firm has 18 lawyers in the state.

Shemin, Wisener and Brown are partners in the Fayetteville office. Hendren and George are associates.

Kutak’s newcomcers have represented an impressive list of corporate clients in recent years, including publicized cases involving Stephens Inc., Axciom Corp., J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. and several local banks. But Shemin said Kutak’s crew won’t be one dimensional.

“It’s not only important to us to represent our corporate clients,” Shemin said, “but we always want part of our practice to be to represent smaller companies and individuals in Northwest Arkansas and throughout the state.”

Shemin was one of five local lawyers who last October were voted to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s legal dream team by their peers. Jeffrey J. Gearhart, a partner at Kutak’s Little Rock office, said landing the entire northwest staff was a coup.

He believes they’ll solidify the local presence of Kutak, which has 300 lawyers nationwide.

“Our business model for Northwest Arkansas is to provide a different level of depth and experience as a national firm,” Gearhart said.

“By taking top notch lawyers who already have established practices in the state and giving them the incredible depth and expertise our firm has available, we elevate both the level of service they’re providing their existing clients and strengthening the firm overall.”

The Fayetteville office was recently relocated from Milsap Road to a palatial 6,300-SF suite in the Three Sisters Building on Dickson Street.