Missouri is still getting to know its next attorney general. Catherine Hanaway was appointed to the office by Gov. Mike Kehoe earlier this month after Andrew Bailey announced he was resigning from the post to become co-deputy director of the FBI.
A former U.S. attorney and Missouri House speaker, Hanaway will step into the role Sept. 8 and inherit the baggage of three consecutive predecessors — attorneys Josh Hawley, Eric Schmitt, and now Bailey — who left for other jobs before finishing a full term.
Hanaway is a former panelist on the Legal Roundtable on St. Louis on the Air. On Tuesday’s edition of the roundtable, attorney Arindam Kar of the law firm Polsinelli said he hopes that Hanaway can break the trend set by her recent predecessors.
“It’ll be interesting to see her trying to balance the highly politicized nature of the office and her track record in civil service as well as private practice,” said Kar. “What I'm really excited about … is at least the inclination is that she is truly, authentically interested in being the Missouri attorney heneral, and not only this term, but perhaps a term afterward.”
Currently a partner at Husch Blackwell, Hanaway will serve the remainder of Bailey's term, more than three years, and has already said she plans to seek election to a full term.
Hanaway’s previous legal work has already created some tension in her new role. She served as lead counsel for the Grain Belt Express — a project to deliver wind power that has been fiercely opposed by the Missouri attorney general’s office under Bailey and now-U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.
In a statement last month, Hanaway called that investigation “unlawful and politically motivated.” Now in charge of the office leading the investigation, she has recused herself from the case.
“She recognizes that there may be some — and has been some — politically motivated lawsuits filed by the attorney general's office,” said Erin Lueker, an attorney at Sedey Harper Westhoff. “Maybe in this new position, from her experience as a defense attorney, she's going to turn in a different direction.”
Along with Erin Lueker and Arindam Kar, Tuesday’s Legal Roundtable featured Bill Freivogel, an attorney and a professor of journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The panel also discussed the charges filed against St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, a series of recent lawsuits claiming the websites of St. Louis businesses are not accessible to blind people and a lawyer’s argument that Washington University police are not actually “law enforcement officers.”
To hear the full conversation with the expert attorneys of the Legal Roundtable, listen to “St. Louis on the Air” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. The production intern is Darrious Varner. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
