The History of Stoll Keenon Ogden
In 1897, a young man from Kentucky left New Haven, Connecticut with a law degree from Yale and the notion that he’d practice law in his hometown.
He opened a modest office in downtown Lexington and before the year ended, Richard Stoll was representing one of the largest banks in the Bluegrass state.
Today, 125 years later, Stoll Keenon Ogden serves our clients from five offices in two states, proudly bearing the names of Richard Stoll, Rodman Keenon and Squire Ogden.
We’re proud of our legendary past and invite you to join us on our journey through history.
SKO 125 History Milestones
1897
Richard Stoll graduates from Yale University Law School, is admitted to the Kentucky Bar and starts practicing law in Lexington. He begins the firm’s relationship with First National Bank and Trust Company of Lexington.
1898
Stoll is appointed to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees. He was reappointed consecutively by seven governors to serve for 50 years, longer than anyone in UK history.
1909
The firm’s representation of utilities begins with Lexington Utility Company, now Kentucky Utilities Company.
1916
The home athletic field of the Kentucky Wildcats football team is named Stoll Field in Dick Stoll’s honor. It remained the home field until 1972.
Richard Stoll graduated from Yale University Law School in 1897 and was appointed to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees in 1898. He was reappointed by seven governors to serve for 50 years, longer than anyone in UK history. In 1916 the University renamed its athletic field Stoll Field, which served as the school’s home field until 1972.
1921
Stoll is appointed Fayette Circuit Court Judge for the 22nd Judicial District, following the resignation of Judge Charles Kerr.
1922
The firm begins its representation of Lexington Water Company, now Kentucky American Water Company.
1923
Squire R. Ogden graduates from Harvard Law School and begins practicing law in Louisville, becoming a partner in Gordon, Laurent, & Ogden. He develops a strong reputation as a general counsel and member of the executive committee of Kentucky Utilities Company.
1928
Judge Stoll is elected president of the Circuit Judges of Kentucky, serving until his resignation from the bench in 1931.
1930
In December, four seasoned lawyers—Judge Stoll, Wallace Muir, William H. Townsend and James Park form a law firm as a “continuous entity” in Lexington. Stoll, Muir, Townsend & Park is located on the 6th floor of the First National Bank & Trust Company building at the corner of Cheapside and Main.
Richard Stoll, Wallace Muir, William Townsend, James Park and an unidentified legal secretary finalize the paperwork to establish Stoll, Muir, Townsend & Park in 1930.
1931
Gayle Mohney joins the firm following his graduation from the University of Kentucky College of Law. During his undergraduate years at UK, Mohney is best known as the star quarterback of the football team, notably drop-kicking a field goal that resulted in a victory over the University of Tennessee as the game-ending horn sounded.
During his 49-year career, Gayle Mohney is known as “the” lawyer for thoroughbred interests, having developed the syndication agreement as well as the plan to form the Keeneland Association as a thoroughbred breeders’ racetrack and sales company.
1935
Judge Stoll and Mohney leverage the firm’s representation of many Lexington thoroughbred horse farms, becoming an integral part of the formation of the Keeneland Association. Along with Hal Price Headley, they develop “a thoroughbred breeders’” racetrack and sales company, which today is the world’s leading thoroughbred auction company.
1948
The firm merges with Keenon, Huguelet and Odear and adopts the name Stoll, Keenon & Park. Rodman Keenon, a trial lawyer and former state senator from Fayette County, previously served as Clerk of the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
1949
On June 26, Judge Stoll dies at age 73.
1952
The firm moves from the First National Bank Building at Cheapside and Main to the First National Building (formerly the Fayette National Bank Building) at the corner of Main and Upper streets.
1956
The firm begins its representation of International Business Machines Corporation.
1974
On January 1, the firm moves to the new First Security National Bank & Trust Company building at the corner of Main and Walnut (now Martin Luther King Boulevard) streets.
1980
On July 25, Gayle Mohney dies unexpectedly after suffering a heart attack while fishing in Iceland. His 49-year legal career is memorialized in The Thoroughbred Record, noting his contributions to the thoroughbred industry and all horsemen.
During his 49-year career, Gayle Mohney is known as “the” lawyer for thoroughbred interests, having developed the syndication agreement as well as the plan to form the Keeneland Association as a thoroughbred breeders’ racetrack and sales company.
1982
Stoll, Keenon & Park acquires the Frankfort-based firm Johnson & Judy.
1985
To more sharply define the firm’s operations, William M. Lear Jr. is appointed as the firm’s first Managing Partner. His duties include organizing the practice of the firm through a committee system and providing periodic reports to the firm’s attorneys.
1990
William L. Montague is elected Managing Partner, serving until January 1995.
1991
The firm begins representation of Lexmark, which is formed by a sale of IBM’s office products division.
1992
Squire Ogden’s Louisville firm is reorganized and renamed Ogden Newell & Welch.
1993
Stoll, Keenon & Park opens a Louisville office with Samuel D. Hinkle IV and Lea Pauley Goff.
1995
Bill Lear is re-elected Managing Partner after serving four terms in the Kentucky General Assembly.
1998
On July 13, the firm expands in western Kentucky, acquiring Sheffer Hoffman in Henderson.
2001
In Lexington, the firm relocates to the Central Bank Building on West Vine Street.
After earning his law degree from Harvard in 1923, Squire R. Ogden practices law in Louisville with Bullitt, Gordon & Laurent. By 1928, he was made a partner and continued his representation of Brown-Forman, Kentucky Utilities and other corporate clients until his death in 1984.
2006
On January 1, Stoll, Keenon & Park merges with Ogden Newell & Welch, forming Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC.
2008
J. David Smith Jr. is elected to serve as the firm’s Managing Director and Bill Lear is named Chairman of the Board.
2010
The firm establishes the James Welch Sr. Arts Leadership Award, in conjunction with the Fund for the Arts, which annually recognizes distinguished individuals whose leadership has made a lasting impact in the Louisville arts community.
2011
The firm initiates sponsorship of the oldest thoroughbred horse race in North America—the Phoenix Stakes—which first ran in 1831. After several dormant years, the race is revived in 1937 at Keeneland Race Course. Today, the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes now runs on opening day of the track’s fall meet.
2012
The firm elects Bill Lear to serve as Managing Director. Lear also continues serving as Chairman of the Board.
To better serve energy-sector clients, the firm announces the opening of an office in Canonsburg, PA.
2013
The firm relocates its Henderson, Kentucky office to Evansville, Indiana.
2016
Members of the firm elect P. Douglas Barr as Managing Director. Bill Lear is named Chairman Emeritus and continues his practice at SKO.
The Cannonsburg office relocates to downtown Pittsburgh.
2017
SKO merges with Indiana-based Bamberger, Foreman, Oswald & Hahn, adding 10 attorneys to SKO’s Evansville team and an office in Indianapolis with five attorneys.
2018
Douglas C. Ballantine, a Member of Stoll Keenon Ogden, is inducted as President of the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA). The KBA serves nearly 19,000 Kentucky-licensed attorneys, including plaintiffs’ and defense lawyers, prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys, judges, family law litigators, and arbitrators.
2019
Stoll Keenon Ogden is named “Kentucky Firm of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to the world’s leading litigation firms and lawyers.
2022
Attorneys and staff of McMasters Keith Butler Inc., an all-woman law firm, joins Stoll Keenon Ogden.
2022
Gene Vance, a Member of Stoll Keenon Ogden, was nominated to serve as the next Chair of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates. The control and administration of the ABA is vested in the House of Delegates, the policy-making body of the association.
2022
Stoll Keenon Ogden merged with Katz Korin Cunningham, an Indianapolis-based firm with an entrepreneurial spirit which has led to client success since 1994.
GALLERY
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Among signature Kentucky businesses represented by SKO is Louisville-based Brown-Forman Corporation, one of the largest American-owned companies in the spirits and wine business.
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In 1910, 30-year-old Mary Howard began her career as a legal secretary and continued until 1967 at the firm where attorney Squire R. Ogden became a partner in 1923. Her great-granddaughter, Donna Rhodus, is now a legal assistant for SKO in Lexington.
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In 1910, Mary Howard began her career as a legal secretary at the firm where attorney Squire R. Ogden became a partner. Her great-granddaughter, Donna Rhodus is currently a legal assistant in SKO’s Lexington office.