FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE City Attorney Dan Wichmer has accepted the position of Executive Director of Legal Services of Southern Missouri. His last day at the City of Springfield will be March 11. Wichmer became Springfield City Attorney in May 2005 after serving as the City Attorney for the City of Branson for two years. Prior to that, he engaged in the private practice of law with the firm of Lathrop & Gage, L.C. “Dan has been a key member of our leadership team. Given the functional diversity of the City, Dan has led a team covering many areas,” said Greg Burris, City Manager. “One of the things I’ve most admired about Dan has been his interest in mentoring young attorneys and helping them get their start through internships at the City.” The duties of the City Attorney are to provide legal advice to 22 different City departments, City Council and all citizen boards and task forces. Under the direction of the City Attorney, the 16-person Law Department serves as an in-house, full-service law firm, handling litigation for the city and drafting all council bills and contracts of the City. In any given year, that’s close to 300 ordinances and 700 contracts. Burris said he will soon name an interim City Attorney while the City conducts a replacement search. Wichmer discussed the biggest issues he has dealt with at the City of Springfield in a 2014 interview with the Springfield Business Journal: “Sexual orientation and gender identity ordinance, marijuana, E-Verify, the development of College Station, the Heer’s project – there are so many projects that have come and gone in my brain. That’s one of the things I enjoy about the job, you always have something interesting that is being presented to you. You can point to various parts of the city and say, 'I helped work with that.'” Wichmer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Northeast Missouri State University (Truman University) and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri Columbia. He is licensed to practice in Missouri, United States District Court, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable John C. Holstein for the Missouri Supreme Court and is a member of the Order of Barristers. He also has served as an instructor at Drury University teaching courses in legal writing and law and was an instructor for the American Banking Association Continuing Education programs. He is currently an editor for the Missouri Courts and CLE Bulletin, Torts Section. # # # For more information, contact: Cora Scott, Director of Public Information & Civic Engagement, 417-864-1009 (office) | 417-380-3352 (cell), [email protected]