Laurence G. Schmidt Law Office

About Us

Meet Laurence.

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Laurence (most people call him Larry) started the Jefferson County portion of his legal career in 1983 when he was appointed as the Chief Public Defender for the 23rd Judicial Circuit. He has been in private practice since 1991 in the Twin City area. In 1994 he was voted “Best Attorney in Jefferson County” by readers of a local newspaper.

Over his lengthy tenure as an attorney he has:

• Represented clients in dozens of serious felonies cases to include eight murder cases, three of which involved the death penalty.

• Obtained numerous findings of not guilty at trial on serious charges including those for murder, sexual assault, robbery, burglary, stealing, armed criminal action and others.

• Become licensed to practice in all state and municipal courts in Missouri and before the United States Supreme Court.

• Represented Festus as its Municipal Judge.

After calling Main Street Festus home (next to Petit Paree restaurant) for over 20 years, his law office moved to its current location next to the Festus Post Office (the former Dowd Insurance building) in December of 2013.

A native of La Crosse, Wisconsin, Larry earned his law degree from the University of Tulsa in 1977 before serving as a prosecuting attorney and defense counsel in courts martial as a Captain in the U.S Army (Judge Advocate General Corps). Before heading to Jefferson County, he served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Augusta, Georgia.

Away from the office, Larry enjoying golfing, cheering on his favorite sports teams (the St. Louis Cardinals and Green Bay Packers among others), travel, history and spending time with his family.

His wife, Janet, is an administrator with the Jefferson County Juvenile Office and his son, Stephen, works as a communications professional for the University of Missouri's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. Larry is also a proud grandfather.

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