Two Law Firms Merge to Create a Top 10 Power

Two area law firms announced today that they were combining in a merger that ranks among the biggest involving firms from the Kansas City area. Rouse Frets Gentile Rhodes and White Goss have formed Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, P.C. The combined entity ranks among the top 10 firms in Kansas City and the largest in Kansas in terms of local lawyers.

With Chuck Rouse and Harold Goss as the managing officers, the merger creates a firm of 65 attorneys.

“Both firms have a commitment to quality and results, and because the firms share a common vision, a merger makes both strategic and cultural sense,” Goss said in news release announcing the union.  “Our practice areas complement each other with a platform providing efficient and effective representation for local, regional and national clients.”

Among others, the practices areas of the combined firm will include business and corporate law, commercial lending, construction, economic development incentives, employment, land use and zoning, and real estate.

Both firms are over 18 years old: Rouse Frets was founded in 1995, and White Goss in 2000. The merged firm will maintain three offices, which include the White Goss location close to the Plaza, and the two Rouse Fret offices, both in Downtown and Leawood’s Park Place. “The cross-border combination results in a leading Kansas City law firm with a national reach,” Rouse said.