Russell grew up in a rural Missouri town of 5,000 people. There were 103 people in his high school’s graduating class.

But he spent 23 years practicing law in NYC, beginning at Cravath and spending the majority of his career at Skadden, where he was a partner in the Mass Torts Group. He returned to Missouri, and now is a partner at Dowd Bennett LLP in St. Louis.

Russell loves St. Louis, so don’t even think about saying anything bad about it! He enjoys the world-class arts institutions here, and that they are freely accessible to the public. Russell served as the Chairman of the Board of Jazz St. Louis, a 501(c)(3) organization that presents internationally-known musicians on its stage and uses professional jazz musicians to teach area youth how to play jazz. He is a trustee of the St. Louis Public Library Foundation, and is on the board of Friends of St. Louis Public Radio.

This isn’t Russell’s first blog. In 2010 and 2011, the ABA Journal included his blog “Consumer Class Actions and Mass Torts” as among its “Blawg 100.” Russell also wrote a column on products liability for the National Law Journal for 19 years. 

Russell is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has taught aggregate litigation as an adjunct professor at Washington University in St. Louis for the last decade. Previously he taught products liability as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School and Fordham University School of Law. He also is a former Chairman of the Products Liability Committee of the New York City Bar Association.