Lawyer quoted in ‘St. Louis Magazine’ on tangled titles in St. Louis neighborhoods

Associate Tim O’Connell was quoted May 16 by St. Louis Magazine on how “tangled titles” freeze wealth in Black neighborhoods in St. Louis, which has never been quantified in the city. The article highlights the St. Louis-based Neighborhood Vacancy Initiative, a long-running neighborhood stabilization effort from Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM) that has involved numerous BCLP lawyers. LSEM launched the project in 2018 in collaboration with BCLP and several other of St. Louis’ largest, best-resourced law firms to provide free legal assistance to help community organizations in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods tackle the impact of neglected, vacant and abandoned properties. Tim has led on BCLP’s work, along with associate Suzanne Hart. “There are things that the city and the agencies can do, but then there are things that only a lawyer can do. Without LSEM being involved and organizing the work, a lot of titles would still be tangled,” Tim said.