Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Finance Transactions

Associate - Corporate and Finance Transactions

Timothy O’Connell is a member of the Financial Services and Real Estate Groups.

Prior to joining the Financial Services and Real Estate Groups, Tim served as chief of staff to the mayor of the city of St. Louis and, before that, as the legal counsel to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. His unique experience and perspective as an attorney who has practiced in the public and private sectors, as well as his decade of experience working as a journalist before becoming a lawyer, adds value to every legal matter he handles for clients.

He has experience advising on many legal issues, including redevelopment agreements, tax incentives, the formation of special taxing districts, public-private partnerships, and complex and high-stakes litigation. He also has advised clients on Missouri campaign finance and lobbying laws and has drafted legislation on diverse subjects.

Before serving in the public sector from 2015 to 2018, Tim worked as a litigator at Bryan Cave LLP, focusing on complex cases as part of the firm’s Class Actions Group. His practice included defending class and collective actions in many areas, including securities, product liability, and consumer fraud actions. He worked on a team that successfully defeated several class actions, arbitrations, and a clawback suit alleging harm by a custodian of self-directed IRAs.

In 2012, Tim worked with several BCLP colleagues to secure the release of a wrongfully convicted man who spent more than 30 years in prison.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Tim worked in journalism for 10 years, first at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and then at The Washington Post.

CIVIC INVOLVEMENT & HONORS Chief of Staff to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, 2017–2018 Legal Counsel to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, 2015–2017 St. Louis Public Schools, volunteer tutor, 2015–2016 Washington University School of Medicine, volunteer panelist regarding ethics of doctor interactions with parents of young patients, 2013–2015 Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Young Friends Board secretary 2012–2016, volunteer lawyer, 2010–2016 PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis