ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones on Thursday named Sheena Hamilton, a partner at Dowd Bennett LLP, to be St. Louis city counselor, filling a post that had been taken on an interim basis by Matt Moak. Hamilton will be the first Black woman to serve in the role, the mayor said, as she starts Sept. 27.
The city said Hamilton currently serves as an equity partner at Clayton-based Dowd, where she's a client manager for Fortune 100 companies and government or quasi-government offices and manages litigation, investigations, budgets, staffing, and compliance.
Prior to that, the government said she clerked for federal judge Catherine Perry and served as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Saint Louis University School of Law. Hamilton, the city said, is also a board member for the United Way of Greater St. Louis and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — Gamma Omega Chapter. She's also been involved with the American Bar Association, Mound City Bar Association, and Women Lawyers Association of Greater St. Louis. The Business Journal in 2017 named her a diverse business leader.
Born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, Hamilton got her undergraduate degree from Tennessee State University.
Moak will remain in the city counselor's office in a senior leadership role, said Nick Desideri, spokesman for Jones.
Dowd, Hamilton's current employer, is one of two law firms representing the city in its lawsuit against the National Football League and Los Angeles Rams over the team's 2016 relocation from St. Louis. Dowd and the other firm, Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch LC, could come away with hundreds of millions of dollars if St. Louis prevails in the suit, as they're set to take 35% of winnings plus certain costs.
Desideri said Hamilton had "no involvement" with the Rams litigation, and called "ridiculous" any notion that, as a member of the government, she'd seek a settlement to benefit Dowd. The case is scheduled for a January trial.
Dowd said in a statement Thursday that Hamilton "is a skilled attorney and great person who has brought much to our firm with her expertise, drive, and commitment."
Hamilton said in a statement that she looks "forward to working with the lawyers in the Office on the critical issues facing our community during this historic time."
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