2023 Up & Coming Awards: Jay Preston, 38

Partner, Carnahan Evans, Springfield

Practice Areas: Commercial Litigation, Estate, Trust, and Fiduciary Litigation, and Cannabis Law

Law School: University of Missouri

Jay Preston concedes that while his best career advice was not typical guidance, it has served him well.

“I was advised ‘to be paranoid,’” he says. “Whether drafting an agreement, analyzing a case, or preparing for a deposition, if you focus on everything that could go wrong then you can prepare for those things to the best of your ability.”

He adds that this method of preparation also serves as an opportunity to demonstrate value to clients and serves as a good quality control strategy.

This practice lines up with the reason he chose a career in law in the first place — his love of logic and reasoning.

“One of my favorite classes in college was mathematical logic,” he says. “It was a unique course, but it showed me how much I enjoyed problem solving.”

What is something that would surprise people about you?

When I first started working for my firm, I didn’t have a real office and was the only associate and originally slated to be temporary. All the offices were full, so I shared our firm library with two other people. It was not a room meant for three people.

What is your favorite thing to do away from work?

I’m a big sports fan, and while I don’t get to as many games as I used to, I still have Mizzou football season tickets and it’s hard to beat a beautiful fall gameday in Columbia.

What has been your favorite moment as an attorney?

When I was a few years out of law school, I was at the office late one night reviewing a deposition transcript, and I remembered something from a video of the signing of the documents that were being challenged in the case. It was a side comment that recorded as the video was turned on, which was innocent and meaningless by itself, but it destroyed the credibility of a key witness for the opposing party. I had to wait until the next day to discuss it with the partner on the case. He spoke my praises with the other attorneys in the office and with the client. That was a good feeling.