Saint Louis Zoo Partnership

The mission of the Saint Louis University School of Law Clinics is to provide public legal service to our community through a variety of legal programs, and we pride ourselves on our unique community partnerships. But representing a reptile? Advocating for an anteater? Litigating for a lemur?  That’s what happened this summer when the Clinics entered into a partnership with the Saint Louis Zoo to provide free legal assistance to the zoo in matters great and small. This is one of the transactional programs that benefits the students with both practical legal experience as well as networking opportunities for their future legal career.

The Saint Louis Zoo is a tax-supported political subdistrict of the state of Missouri that is consistently ranked as one of the top zoos in the United States, and it is a significant cultural and educational presence in the St. Louis community. Its programs in conservation, animal management and research have drawn international accolades. It attracts more than 3,000,000 guests a year and generates $47,000,000 in revenue annually before capital gains and restricted revenues. This long-standing historical nonprofit has a complicated yet successful structure that students have the chance to study through this partnership.

Winthrop B. “Win” Reed III, a partner at Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. and a School of Law alumnus from 1994, initiated the partnership with the Clinics. Reed is the president of the Zoo Friends Association (ZFA). The ZFA board deals with oversight of the Zoo Friends funds that support the Zoo’s operating expenses, including animal care. He saw the partnership as a unique opportunity to introduce law students to the inside operations of a major nonprofit organization while providing the Zoo with valuable legal assistance. Depending on what the ZFA board needs them to do, students can gain experience in the areas of employment law, taxation, real estate law, nonprofit law and animal regulation. Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. provides the law students with their own workspace at the law firm, including access to the firm’s library and staff services.

Our students attend the ZFA board and the Zoo Commission meetings to learn the process of taking and developing corporate minutes for nonprofit agencies and to learn how the board operates. And even though it’s not their primary goal when they begin the program, students come to better appreciate the importance of the Zoo. The Zoo staff teaches the students about the educational and conservation programs that the Zoo offers not only locally but also globally.

Greg Stewart, ’08, who worked at the Clinics, felt the experience was invaluable. “The opportunity to observe how a nonprofit board operates was fascinating. This partnership gives law students insight into the many ways in which nonprofit law has an impact on a community.” The students this past summer spent their time researching land and real estate issues as well as matters involving municipal and local government.

The students presented their findings to the Saint Louis Zoo Friends Association Executive Committee in the beginning of the fall semester. Many also attended ZFA meetings and were able to connect with the numerous St. Louis leaders of the business and legal communities—CEOs, financial gurus and marketing and fund-raising experts—who serve on the Board. “We are incredibly thankful for the efforts of the Saint Louis University School of Law Legal Clinics. We enjoy and will continue to enjoy working together with the students,” says Reed.

The Legal Clinics look forward to expanding this partnership in the future. Professor Patricia Harrison, who is now in charge of the program, says, “Our hope is that students will see the value in volunteering and becoming involved in nonprofit agencies and will understand how successful attorneys and members of the corporate world give back to the community.”