ICON Honors 2023: Gerald P. “Gerry” Greiman, Spencer Fane

Few things can match presenting an oral argument before the United States Supreme Court but, as Gerald P. “Gerry” Greiman knows, getting a unanimous victory is even better.

“For me, it was the most fun a lawyer could have,” said the 73-year-old Washington University alumnus. “It was an interesting First Amendment case. I felt I was on the right side of it.”

The court agreed with him in finding in 1994’s City of Ladue v. Gilleo that the St. Louis area municipality’s rules on yard signage were an infringement on freedom of speech.

The case was part of the volunteer work Greiman did helping the American Civil Liberties Union, of which he is a member. His other community activities have included being board chair of Jewish Federation of St. Louis, political action committee chair of the regional Planned Parenthood and president of the area’s Jewish Community Relations Council. A graduate of Leadership St. Louis, the Chicago native been involved with everything from the University City Civil Service Board to the Missouri Commission on Human Rights to the state’s Coalition for the Environment.

After clerking for the Eighth Circuit out of law school, Greiman worked at a boutique law firm in the nation’s capital. After returning to St. Louis, he eventually obtained a partnership with Spencer Fane.

“I enjoy figuring out the policy aspects of the law,” Greiman said. “I enjoy helping my clients achieve their goals. I enjoy the challenges of the academic aspects of the law.”

In that capacity, he has worked to represent the local owners of the Fox Theatre in a noteworthy case against New York real estate investors over leasing issues. In 2012, he represented challengers to a redistricting map in Missouri’s Pearson v. Koster. He also took on a class action suit on wheelchair accessibility against a major university resulting in a more accessible campus.

“Sometimes, lawyers get a bad name or a bad rap, but it is lawyers who enable the legal system to resolve disputes in a relatively peaceful manner,” he noted.