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Will Taylor spent many
years as a construction worker, taxi driver, nightclub security worker and teacher before entering the
St. Louis University School of Law at age 34. He had already worked
his way through the University of Missouri - Columbia, where he earned his
Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, and the St. Louis University Center
for Urban Programs, where he received his Master's Degree in Urban Affairs
in 1973. Before beginning his university education, Will served in
the United States Air Force for four years, including one tour of duty in Southeast
Asia during the Vietnam War.
Raised primarily in the lower-middle
class neighborhoods of St. Louis, Will naturally assumed he would practice criminal law. However,
during his third year of law school, a close woman friend was kidnapped from
a well-known entertainment area in St. Louis and brutally gang-raped. He
became outraged when, after his own investigation, he learned the security
in this area was practically non-existent.
Will's first case after receiving his
license to practice law was a lawsuit filed against the bar from which his friend had been allowed
to walk unescorted to her car and the redevelopment company that refused
to repair streetlights that had failed on many previous occasions. The
case was dismissed by a judge who refused to hear the evidence, simply
ruling there was no legal duty for a business entity to provide security
to a customer or business invitee. The Missouri Court of Appeals agreed.
After such a blow, Will realized that
the issue of private businesses providing security to their patrons had never been thoroughly
presented to the courts of Missouri. In fact, only a handful of such cases
had ever been filed anywhere in the United States. After forming close relationships
with a number of victim service organizations, he decided to continue
filing such cases until the courts were compelled to address the issue
of landowners' responsibilities to their patrons.
In 1982, Will managed to persuade the
Missouri Supreme Court to hear the landmark case of Virginia D. v. Madesco Investment Co., 648
S.W.2d 881 (Mo. banc 1982). That case involved the rape of a customer of a
restaurant, located in a first class hotel in downtown St. Louis. The
young woman went to a downstairs rest room, where she was attacked by a man
who had entered the hotel undetected by security personnel.
The Supreme Court of Missouri, for
the first time held that businesses must, under certain circumstances, provide a reasonable level of
security for their patrons. From this first success, Will continued to
pursue the cause of victims and has managed to expand the law of victims' rights
in Missouri and elsewhere in the United States. After more than 20 years
of advocacy, crime victim lawsuits have become some of the most feared
by defense law firms and insurance companies.
After many years of practicing law
on his own, Will was joined by his son Joe. Together, they formed the firm of Taylor & Taylor,
P.C.
Will recently moved back to St. Louis,
Missouri from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he has lived for the past seven years. He has two daughters
and two grandsons.
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