June 30, 2022 - Yesterday, AIM President and CEO Ray McCarty joined AIM Board of Directors Member Ruth Binger and a crowd of around 200 people as Ms. Binger was honored with the ICON Award by Missouri Lawyers Media.
Ruth Binger is a 37-year veteran of the Clayton law firm, Danna McKitrick. She was recognized by Missouri Lawyers Media for her leadership of Danna McKitrick’s transactional law group, overseeing mergers and acquisitions, tax, employment, cybersecurity, banking, intellectual property, real estate law and more. She is also a longtime facilitator of several peer advisory boards for independent business owners.
Binger was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. She received her undergraduate degree in economics from Northern Illinois University and her law degree from DePaul. In the mid-80s, Binger moved to St. Louis. She has served on the Board of Directors of Associated Industries of Missouri for many years and received a board appointment to the St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association (RCGA). This led to the CEO roundtables, which began in 1994 and now consist of three groups of 8-10 members who meet monthly to share successes and challenges.
Besides her work, Binger is the mother of a blended family with four children. She is married to Jerry Jost, a chemical engineer owner of Jost Chemical. Her youngest daughter Emily is following in her mother’s footsteps as she graduated from the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law in May, with a position at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago to follow.
Binger says she was attracted to the legal profession because “law brings order, (which) is necessary for a civilization to thrive.” She is thankful to bring that order through a mid-sized law firm, which are becoming harder to find. She also has great praise for the business owners she counsels. Binger is reported as saying, “Law is salt. If you are a strategic businessperson, you use law to grow your business, not to fight for the sake of fighting. I learned a great deal about business from my clients and I try to apply it in my firm.”
According to Missouri Lawyers Media, the ICON awards, launched in 2018, are given to attorneys age 60 and older in recognition of their exemplary careers and longstanding commitment to the Missouri legal community. Whether active or retired, honorees must hold or have held a senior position with significant decision-making authority for their firm or organization.
Also receiving the ICON award this year were Judge Duane Benton, U.S. Circuit Court Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; Christopher “Kit” Bond, former Republican U.S. Senator; and Claire McCaskill, former Democratic U.S. Senator.
“We have always known the special work Ruth does with her clients,” said McCarty. “This is a well-deserved honor for her. Ruth is always willing to help clients of all sizes, but she specifically has a heart for small and mid-size businesses and really helps those that do not have full service legal departments. We wholeheartedly congratulate Ruth Binger on this honor,” he said.