Robert J. Payne

Robert J. Payne is a member of the Alliance General Legal Counsel, LLC law firm. He is licensed to practice law in Missouri and Kansas.  He has worked in the private practice of law and as in-house legal counsel.  In private practice, he represents clients on transactional, organizational, governance, commercial, estate planning and other legal matters. He has particular legal expertise on merger and acquisition, technology-related, and non-profit governance matters. As in-house legal counsel, he established the legal department and managed the legal matters for a publicly held and international railroad equipment and systems supplier. He has also worked as in-house counsel for an international pharmaceutical company.

 He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. and his undergraduate degree in economics with distinction from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is an honorary member of the Delta Mu Delta international business honor society. Robert has completed the MBA Essentials Program at the Center for Management Education of the University of Kansas School of Business. He has also completed the Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac® program for entrepreneurs.

He has taught business law, employment law and critical thinking courses to MBA and undergraduate degree candidates. He has written for and presented to lawyers and other professionals on ethics, intellectual property, business transactions, estate and succession planning, and other topics. Specific topics include:

·         Form 990; Key Compliance Points and Disclosure Considerations

·         Ethical Considerations for Exempt Organization Practitioners

·         Walking the Ethical Line

·         Select Issues in Business Entity Operation and Conversion

·         Protecting Intellectual Property

·         Advising Buyers and Sellers During the First Steps of a Small-to-Medium Sized Business Acquisition

·         Choice of Entity

·         Maintaining an Ethical Practice

·         Ethics in Business Law

·         Ethics in Business Acquisitions

·         Strategically Negotiating the Purchase/Sale Agreement

·         Legal Forms and IP Rights: Yours, Mine, Ours or Theirs?

·         Estate Planning for the Small Business

 While working for a subsidiary of The General Electric Company, Robert obtained his Green Belt Certification in using Six Sigma™ tools. Six Sigma™ is a discipline that uses data-driven methodology to eliminate defects in business processes. He is the founder of an internet-based provider of corporate communication, governance, recordkeeping, and sourcing resources for organizations and their key constituents.

 Robert has a long history of service to professional, civic, and charitable organizations. Examples of his service include the following:

 ·         member and former chairperson of Women’s Christian Association, Inc.’s (Armour Oaks senior living community) Board of Directors;

·         member of the University of St. Mary Business Advisory Board;

·         former president and director of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Mid-America Chapter;

·         former president of the American Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals Kansas City Chapter;

·         former chairman of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Corporate House Counsel Committee;

·         appointed by the president of the Missouri Bar to its Multidisciplinary Practice Ad Hoc Committee;

·         former member of Legal Aid of Western Missouri’s Justice for All Campaign Leadership Committee;

·         former member of Alphapointe, Inc.’s Board of Directors and Audit committee;

·         former member and chairperson of Swope Health Foundation’s Board of Directors;

·         former member of Southtown Council’s Board of Directors;

·         former chairperson of Baptist Medical Center’s Honorary Board of Governors;

·         former Rotarian; and

·         alumnus of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Centurions Leadership Program.