KC Attorney Joins Saint Francis as General Counsel

Attorney James T. Wicks has joined Saint Francis Community Services as General Counsel.

According to St. Francis, Wicks, formerly with the Kansas City office of the St. Louis-based Bryan Cave law firm, is a seasoned litigator whose areas of focus include regulatory, employment and contract law, as well as compliance matters.

“Saint Francis is thrilled to have someone of Jim’s caliber and experience joining our leadership team,” said The Very Reverend Robert N. Smith, Dean and CEO of Saint Francis Community Services. “Jim’s broad expertise and strategic advice will be invaluable to us as we move forward with our mission to continually improve and expand services for those under our care.”

“I am proud to join Saint Francis Community Services at this crucial time in its 72-year history, when its mission is needed more than ever,” Wicks said. “I am excited to be a part of Saint Francis’ efforts to broaden the services it provides in communities in Kansas and elsewhere, and to increase the number of vulnerable lives it touches and enriches every day.”

Bob Thompson, a member of the executive committee of Bryan Cave, added, “Jim has been a valued member of Bryan Cave, and we deeply regret losing him. However, we are proud that he is assuming a key role for such a renowned institution as Saint Francis Community Services, and we wish him well.”

A 1987 graduate of Harvard Law School, Wicks served as Research and Editorial Assistant to Professor Phillip E. Areeda on two volumes of Antitrust Law by Areeda & Turner. He earned his liberal arts degree in the humanities, with honors, from The College of the University of Chicago. While an undergraduate, he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and wrote articles for the 15th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Founded in 1945, Saint Francis Community Services encompasses foster care, therapeutic foster care, adoption, family preservation, residential care, and community outreach services. The organization employs more than 1,200 staff members and serves more than 10,000 clients through child welfare services in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. It also provides supervised living and employment services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Mississippi.