Firm News & Events
October 2026
Schuchat, Cook & Werner Welcomes New Associates – As Schuchat, Cook & Werner approaches the law firm’s 80th anniversary, we are pleased to welcome to the firm two new associates, Tyler Ludwig and Madeline Gehrig, with strong ties to St. Louis and the labor movement:
Tyler Ludwig joined the firm in January 2026 and works in the firm’s Labor, Employee Benefits and Election Law practices. He graduated with honors from the University of Missouri School of Law in 2021, where he published two notes for the Missouri Law Review and received awards for excellence in Contracts and Wrongful Convictions. Upon completing law school, Tyler spent two years clerking for the Honorable Mary Rhodes-Russell on the Supreme Court of Missouri. After completing his clerkship and prior to joining our firm, Tyler was a Missouri State Public Defender in the central post-conviction relief unit. Tyler has had a lifelong passion for organized labor; his father and grandfather are both IBEW Local 1 members, and his other grandfather was a member of Teamsters Local 600. Tyler grew up in St. Charles, Missouri.
Madeline Gehrig joined the firm as a law clerk in May 2025 and began working as a Labor and Employee Benefits Associate in September 2026. Prior to law school, Madeline worked in the service industry and initiated an organizing campaign at her workplace. She graduated with honors and a certification in employment law from Saint Louis University School of Law in May 2026. While in law school, Madeline worked as a Student Attorney in the Criminal Defense and Civil Advocacy Clinics, completed two Peggy Browning Fund Labor Law Fellowships, and was selected to publish her article on improving workers’ compensation for federally incarcerated workers. Madeline grew up in Alton, Illinois.
September 2026
On September 3, 2026, the Missouri Supreme Court by unanimous decision ordered Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to certify Amendment 6 and place it on the November 2026 ballot. Schuchat attorneys Chris Grant, Loretta Haggard, and Tyler Ludwig teamed with attorneys from the Stinson law firm to win the case. In the space of a few weeks, they filed a lawsuit over Hoskins’ refusal to certify the measure, tried the matter before a Cole County judge, and briefed an appeal before the Missouri Supreme Court. The decision is a victory for the Respect MO Voters Campaign, for We Are Missouri, for the many working people and unions that support the proposed constitutional amendment, and importantly for direct democracy. Amendment 6 protects the right of initiative and places reasoned limits on the legislature’s ability to change citizen-initiated ballot measures. You can read about the decision here: Missouri voters will decide limits on lawmakers rewriting ballot measures • Missouri Independent
Loretta and Chris also recently authored an article, for the St. Louis Bar Journal, on Missouri’s rights of initiative and referendum. You can find the article here: https://www.bamsl.org/?pg=LawJournal&pubAction=viewIssue&pubIssueID=73334&pubIssueItemID=489214
Congratulations to Loretta Haggard, George Suggs, Sally Barker, and Jim Singer for again being recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in one or both of the following practice areas: Employment Law – Individuals, Labor Law – Union, or Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law. According to The Best Lawyers in America® : “Having lawyers recognized in Best Lawyers’ Purely Peer Review® emphasizes the lawyers’ credibility and reputation for their practice amongst peers in their practice areas and regions. It displays professional validation of the legal talent that Schuchat, Cook & Werner has on its team. These honors come directly from peer feedback, reflecting the strong regard other leading attorneys have for Schuchat, Cook & Werner’s skill, advocacy, and commitment to clients.”
May 2026
St. Louis Magazine has reported that Schuchat, Cook & Werner has been named by Best Lawyers® as one of the Best Law Firms® in St. Louis for 2026 in the practice areas of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Employment Law – Individuals, and Labor Law – Union.
In a recent article published in the Missouri Independent, George Suggs commented on the impact of an April 2026 decision by the National Labor Relations Board that employees working at a local cannabis cultivation facility are not agricultural laborers exempt from the protections of the National Labor Relations Act, and, therefore, have the right to unionize.
December 2025
Chris Grant was quoted in a December 31, 2025 report on St. Louis Public Radio regarding the efforts of former employees of Northview Village, which abruptly closed in December 2023, to recover over $1.9 million in unpaid wages and benefits due based on a finding by a Federal Court that Northview Village violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act). As noted in the report, the Court granted the workers’ “request for a default judgment in the workers’ favor after the former owners dropped their attorneys and did not hire new legal counsel. ‘I can confirm they are difficult to track down, but that we intend to track them down,” Grant said.”
Congratulations to Sally Barker for being named to Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s POWER List 100 in Employment Law for 2025!
July 2025
Congratulations to Loretta Haggard for being named to Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s POWER List in Employment Law for 2025!
February 2025
In February 2025, attorney Chris Grant received the Lawyer of the Year award from Missouri’s Lawyers Media as part of the legal team protecting Amendment 3, a reproductive rights constitutional amendment. He advised groups working to place the measure on the ballot and then worked with other attorneys, including Loretta Haggard and the ACLU, to defend the amendment from a slew of unprecedented legal attacks and to ensure a vote on the measure.
October 2024
In September 2023, attorneys Chris Grant and Loretta Haggard served on a team of attorneys that successfully fought efforts by the Missouri Secretary of State and opponents to mislead voters and keep Amendment 3, the Reproductive Rights initiative, off the ballot. First, they sued the Missouri Secretary of State for publishing a biased summary of Amendment 3, to be posted at polling places. A trial judge issued an injunction against the Secretary of State and re-wrote the summary to fairly describe the effects of the initiative. Second, they fought unprecedented efforts by opponents to prevent the public from exercising the right the initiative petition and voting on Amendment 3. Over the course of four days, they worked with attorneys at the ACLU and another law firm to appeal an adverse trial court decision to the Missouri Supreme Court, research and draft a 30-page appellate brief, prepare for oral argument, and seek contempt against the Missouri Secretary of State. Ultimately, democracy prevailed, and the Missouri Supreme Court restored Amendment 3 to the ballot, just hours before a statutory deadline. A copy of the Missouri Supreme Court’s opinion can be found here.
Chris Grant and Loretta Haggard regularly assist non-profits and campaign committees on initiative petition matters. Contact them with questions regarding constitutional issues, campaign finance, and election laws.
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