Legal Limelight: Grant Mabie

Grant Mabie has spent most of his life in south St. Louis County. A graduate of Oakville High School, he earned his undergraduate degree in business and management systems from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2005, and his law degree from Saint Louis University in 2008. Since 2010, Mabie has practiced at Hein Schneider & Bond, where he focuses on real estate, corporate and title insurance litigation across Missouri and Illinois.

Mabie was first elected to the Crestwood Board of Aldermen in 2015 after serving as chair of the city’s Economic Development Commission. He was elected to mayor in a 2018 special election, triggered by the resignation of the mayor at the time due to health issues. He was reelected for a full mayoral term in 2020 and served in that role through April 2023. He returned to the board the same year to fill a vacancy in his former ward, Ward 3. His wife and him have called Crestwood home since 2006.

How has your experience as an attorney helped in your public service work as an alderman and mayor?

“In Crestwood, we’ve dealt with litigation. We’ve dealt with zoning disputes. We deal with employee negotiations that touch on the statutes. We approve multiple contracts every other month. We’ve dealt with lobbying and issues trying to influence legislation. We have political negotiations, not just with our peers and other school districts … but we’re talking to our elected officials and trying to negotiate those with our federal and state representatives. And then every code change is something where, while the city attorney generally drafts it … you make modifications on both procedure and substance … I’d probably use some of my legal skill set almost every single meeting we have.”

How did you first get involved in Crestwood city government?

“At the time Crestwood Mall was struggling and going through all kinds of issues, and it eventually closed. And at the time I would read the paper every week, and I would be disappointed not only with some of the decisions being made by the governing body at the time, but disappointed with what I thought was the lack of professionalism, a lot of personal sniping back and forth … I complained to my wife and my friends about the state of affairs at Crestwood. You know, I should throw my hat in the ring and do something about it. … I lost my first election in 2013 … but I made some good connections. The then mayor at the time became aware of my campaign, and he appointed me to actually chair the Crestwood Economic Development Commission in 2014.”

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What’s been the most surprising or unexpected aspect of serving in local government?

“I guess at the time, it was a little surprising how old school some of the methodologies were. … A lot of paper, a lot of filing, a lot of carbon copies. The budget was built on elaborate, connected spreadsheets. … But to the credit of the current administration and the current city administrator, Kris Simpson, the last decade, the city has really modernized quite a bit of our systems and modernized our processes. You can apply for permits online now, you can apply for business licenses online. The software has improved our budgeting systems and things of that nature.”

What advice would you give to other attorneys thinking about public service?

“I have enjoyed public service and found it fulfilling. I think with the good time management that most lawyers have, it’s easy enough to balance work and public service, and I think there are things you learn in most spheres that can be carried over to the other … I think it makes you a better public servant, and it also makes you a better lawyer … Being a public servant is a way that most lawyers have that training and skill set that they can give back (to) communities, and then it gives the public confidence when they see professionally run meetings, they see respectful dialog, and they see things happen in local communities that … run the right way.”