About

Joseph L. Bauer, Jr. was born in Danville, Illinois.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from St. Louis University in 1972.  He received his Juris Doctoris degree from St. Louis University School of Law in 1975.  While attending St. Louis University School of Law, he clerked for the Legal Aid Society of St. Louis as a special law clerk to the director of Legal Aid, Clyde S. Cahill. After graduating from law school, he worked at Legal Aid Society of St. Louis handling major social litigation from 1975 to 1977.  He then worked briefly for the Missouri Attorney General in 1977.  From 1977 to 1983, he was an Assistant Circuit Attorney in St. Louis where he was one of the top trial attorneys in that office, specializing in prosecuting murder cases, cases of rape, serious assaults, and repeat offenders.  From 1983 to the present, he has been a trial lawyer specializing in personal injury cases, including product liability, medical malpractice, trucking collisions, mass torts, railroad crossing and railroad personal injury cases (FELA). He is the Managing Member of The Bauer Law F, LLC. He has been nationally designated counsel for the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the railroad section of the I.B.E.W., the Brotherhood of Boilermakers and the Sheet Metal Workers.

He has tried many FELA cases against railroads with excellent results.  In 2016, Joe  formed The Bauer Law Firm.  Cases he has tried have resulted in juries assessing damages against civil defendants ranging from upper six figures to over a million dollars.  He has also settled numerous cases where the defendants have paid over a million dollars to several million dollars.  Joe has handled nationally precedent setting cases, including the first case involving the Union Pacific Railroad’s Internal Placement and Rehabilitation Program, a repressed memory claim for sexual abuse against Catholic clergy in the Missouri Supreme Court (Powel v. Chaminade College Prep., Inc., 197 S.W.3d 576 (Mo. 2006) with excellent results.

He is licensed to practice law in Missouri and Illinois.  He is also licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in numerous Federal Appellate and District Courts.  He is a member of the Illinois Bar, Missouri Bar, American Bar Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (where he has served as a member of the Board of Governors), the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys.  Joe has been certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Certified Civil Trial Specialist.  This national organization recognizes proficiency in the field of civil and jury trial work.  In addition to his trial experience, he has lectured at St. Louis University Law School and Washington University School of Law on trial techniques.  He has also assisted Washington University School of Law’s Mock Trial Team in preparation for national competition.