Stinson Deepens Tax, Trusts & Estates Bench in St. Louis with Four-Attorney Team

11.10.2026

Stinson LLP is pleased to welcome partners Jennifer Davis and Lauren E. Surdyke, and associates Molly Grewe and Tricia Caucci, to the firm's Tax, Trusts & Estates Practice Division in St. Louis. The additions deepen one of the firm's signature practices in St. Louis and continue a year of strong growth for office, which has welcomed 11 attorneys this year.

The group expands Stinson’s ability to serve clients navigating complex wealth-transfer strategies, family-business transitions and liquidity events, charitable and philanthropic planning, and contested and uncontested trust and estate matters.

"Jennifer and Lauren bring valuable experience and complementary perspectives to our tax, trust and estates practice," said Laura Halferty, chair of Stinson’s Tax, Trusts & Estates Practice Division. "Their experience advising individuals, families and business owners on wealth preservation, succession and tax matters is a strong addition to our St. Louis office and our broader practice."

The team joins a St. Louis practice that includes Partner Clary Redd, an inductee in the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils' Estate Planning Hall of Fame®, and Of Counsel Lindsey Lang, giving clients access to one of the region’s deepest benches of trusts and estates experience.

Davis, a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), counsels families with substantial wealth, business owners and multigenerational families on advanced estate and gift tax planning, charitable giving, family-business succession, asset protection and privacy planning. Her work includes designing and implementing advanced wealth-transfer strategies, guiding closely held business owners from formation through sale, including pre-sale and qualified small business stock planning, establishing private foundations and charitable trusts, and advising family offices on governance and leadership transitions. She also represents financial institutions and other fiduciaries nationwide in contested and uncontested trust and probate administrations.

Surdyke advises high-net-worth individuals and families on estate planning, wealth transfer and business-succession matters, including asset-protection strategies, trust structures such as spousal lifetime access trusts and family limited partnerships, estate and gift tax planning, trust administration and marital agreements. She also counsels closely held businesses on entity formation, contract negotiation and general business planning. Her experience within a large financial services organization, where she reviewed estate plans and assisted with wealth-preservation strategies for high-net-worth clients, gives her added perspective on the financial considerations underlying estate and tax planning. Surdyke is the immediate past president of the St. Louis County Bar Association.

Grewe focuses her practice on estate and tax planning, designing tax-efficient estate plans, advising business owners on succession planning and transaction structures, and counseling multigenerational families on wealth-transfer strategies. Her experience in trust and probate administration and fiduciary litigation, including will and trust disputes and breach of fiduciary duty matters, allows her to assist clients with both planning and the disputes that can arise in administering complex estates and trusts.

Caucci, who holds a Tax LL.M., assists clients with estate planning, trust administration and tax matters, including structuring trusts, evaluating the tax implications of gifts and wealth transfers, and federal gift tax reporting. During law school, she externed with the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel, where she researched federal tax issues and assisted with U.S. Tax Court litigation, and worked on estate planning matters for high-net-worth clients of a wealth management firm.

"Families and fiduciaries come to us at defining moments, whether a business transition, a generational transfer of wealth or a complex trust administration," said Davis. "Stinson's national platform and the depth of its tax, trusts and estates bench allow us to bring even greater resources to those decisions while maintaining the close, long-term relationships our clients value."

Davis earned her J.D., cum laude, from Saint Louis University School of Law and is admitted to practice in Missouri and Illinois. Surdyke earned her J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and is admitted to practice in Missouri, Illinois and New York. Grewe earned her J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law and is admitted to practice in Missouri and before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Caucci earned her J.D. and Tax LL.M. from Washington University School of Law and is admitted to practice in Missouri.