Then and Now: Joseph Reece manages growth at RMP Law

Starting his law firm in 2005 was challenging for Joseph Reece. But he says that pivotal moment paid off. He founded RMP Law with partners Lee Moore and Neal Pendergraft, and it’s become one of the fastest-growing law firms based in Arkansas, with 46 lawyers, and offices in Johnson, Little Rock, Jonesboro and Bentonville.

“We were three guys that were kindred, committed to excellence and committed to having the proper culture in practicing law,” he said. “We’ve really focused on culture — meaning working conditions in how people are treated. It’s been hard, but it’s also been excellent experience. You know in this life most things that are good, they’re hard.”

RMP provides individuals, families and businesses with tax, transactional, estate planning and litigation representation and focuses on estate planning, elder law, commercial litigation, white-collar defense, employment law, tax planning, government investigations, appellate law, school investigations and medical malpractice.

Part of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 class in 2011, Reece has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, including the designation as Lawyer of the Year Fayetteville in tax law. He’s also been selected to Mid-South Super Lawyers in estate planning and probate for multiple years.

Growing up on a cattle ranch in Ozone (Johnson County), Reece’s parents stressed education, and his father encouraged him to be a tax attorney. After graduating with an accounting degree from the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville in 1994, Reece earned his juris doctor from Mercer University in 1997, and then his legal master’s (LL.M.) in estate planning and taxation from the University of Miami in 1998.

Another pivotal moment was moving to Northwest Arkansas after law school. “The decision to come to Northwest Arkansas in the late ‘90s was a significant decision,” he said, citing the area growth as well as around the state. “There’s growth in Jonesboro, Little Rock, Conway, Russellville. If you look at this state in the last 25 years and what’s happened here, it makes you very excited about the next 25.”

Reece’s first boss, E.J. Ball, with Ball & Mourton Ltd. PLLC, was “a legendary attorney. And he told me, ‘If you treat people right, tell the truth and do excellent work, you’ll always have tons of business, you’ll have tons of clients.’ I do not know personally an attorney in Arkansas who is a stand-up man or woman, who treats people right and tells the truth, that is not absolutely covered up in clients.”

As managing partner, Reece casts the vision for the firm and plans to continue growing it as he focuses on efficiency over the next few years. “We’ve always erred on the side of quality, and I would never change that.”
Reece credits his success to “operating from a Christian worldview,” which affects every part of his business.

His biggest challenge is managing people and all the hard things they may be going through, “maybe sickness, maybe a family situation, maybe financial,” he said. “But when people genuinely know ‘I’m an important person, my boss cares about me and my family, then — while we’re not going to get everything right — we’re going to show each other some grace and mercy and get down in the foxhole and fight for one another. To me, that’s where you have this esprit de corps of advancing a common purpose. We’ve tried to do that at RMP and do that on behalf of our clients and for one another. It’s worked out really well.”

One of the things Reece enjoys most about his work is the variety. “There’s enough consistency in the practice of law that it’s not chaos, but there’s enough variety that it’s not monotonous. Every deal is a little bit different, and you’re dealing with different people. And so to me that’s something that’s really fun. I like some change. I think if I had a job that was super repetitive, I don’t think I would enjoy it as much.”

Reece is involved in his church and enjoys hunting, fishing, reading and playing the guitar, piano and banjo. New empty nesters, Reece and his wife, Elyse, look forward to traveling.