A.J. Chivetta, J.D.
Professor of Practice
Courses Taught
Lawyering Practice
Education
J.D., Saint Louis University School of Law, 1984
B.A., Washington University, 1980
Practice Areas
Chivetta is CEO and co-founder of Selequity, a technology company focused on providing
financial advisors and their clients with direct access to private placements in commercial
real estate.
As a partner at Armstrong Teasdale, Chivetta focused in the areas of real estate and
construction law, representing clients in real estate sales and leasing and in the
negotiation and preparation of complex design and construction contracts. He served
as outside general counsel to a private equity-backed Dutch holding company which
acquired 10 companies from Philips Electronics with operations in more than 15 countries.
Over the course of several years, he assisted the holding company in reorganizing
each of the companies鈥� global operations, positioning each company to operate independently
and led efforts to sell each of these companies. This experience involved extensive
travel throughout Europe and interaction with many of Europe鈥檚 leading law firms either
as local counsel or opposing counsel.
Chivetta played a significant role in establishing Armstrong Teasdale鈥檚 office in Shanghai, China in 1994. In 2002, conceived and created the China Alliance, a joint venture consisting of Armstrong Teasdale in St. Louis, Butzel Long in Michigan, Michael, Best and Friederich in Wisconsin and Blake Cassels and Graydon in Canada, which jointly operates offices in Shanghai and Beijing. Led the China Alliance through a significant growth phase increasing staff in China and expanding operations to Washington, D.C. Led the recruiting efforts for the China Alliance, including recruiting Charles Freeman, then the Chief U.S. Trade Representative for China.
Chivetta served as outside general counsel for Cassidy Turley, the nation鈥檚 third largest real estate services provider. He worked extensively with the senior management team to develop and implement a national expansion strategy which has seen Cassidy Turley grow from a few Midwestern offices to more than 60 offices nationwide which employ over 3600 professionals. In recent years, this expansion has involved representing the company in multiple acquisition transactions and in designing and implementing a nationwide legal platform for affiliated firms.
Professional Organizations and Associations
Chivetta served as Chairman/Practice Group Leader of Armstrong Teasdale鈥檚 International
Practice group and was developing and implementing the group鈥檚 strategic plan, budget,
financial performance, practice management, professional development, recruiting and
marketing. He led the team responsible for a complete rebranding of Armstrong Teasdale
as part of move to new location in 2010.
Community Work and Service
Chivetta served as the Fair Saint Louis General Chairman in 2010 and 2011 and is a current board member for Fair Saint Louis Foundation. He is currently on the board for Hope Happens.