Law office celebrates century of 'country lawyering'

SIKESTON -- The Law Offices of Blanton, Rice, Nickell, Cozean and Collins is celebrating a century of "country lawyering" in Southeast Missouri.

"We have a lot of history here," said Joseph Blanton, a partner and attorney for the law office. "The firm was started by my grandfather, Harry Blanton, in 1914. It was the same year that his father, Charles Blanton, bought the newspaper and moved the family here."

There aren't a lot of law firms around that go back that far.

"There is one firm that is older -- Ward and Reeves in Caruthersville -- and then the Limbaugh Firm in Cape Girardeau which is two years younger than we are," Blanton said.

Harry Blanton had graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., earlier that same year.

"We've been at our current location since 1968," Blanton said. "The first law office was actually in Benton, Mo., at the county seat."

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