Thor was elected to membership in the prestigious, invitation-only Owners’ Counsel of America association of property-rights lawyers.  Only one lawyer from each state and the District of Columbia is admitted to Owners’ Counsel of America which is an organization of the most distinguished property-rights and eminent domain attorneys in the nation.   

Thor has enjoyed success as the lead counsel in numerous federal and state trials including jury trials and bench trials.  Thor’s courtroom successes have made him a frequent and highly sought-after speaker at national legal conferences, including the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference at William & Mary Law School, where he serves as a member of the Advisory Council.  Thor has spoken internationally at property rights and property law.  Thor addressed international property law and property rights conferences at Tsinghua University School of Law in Beijing China and the Universiteit Leiden at The Hague in the Netherlands. 

For almost a decade Thor has served as a faculty member on the American Law Institute Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference.  Thor was chosen by the judges of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to serve on the Court’s Advisory Council and takings committee. 

In similar property rights litigation, Thor represented the Culverhouse family in the precedent-setting decision against the Internal Revenue Service that Thor argued and won in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  The case involved the IRS’s attempt to challenge the value of that property the Culverhouse family donated for the Culverhouse Nature Park and Community Garden.  The Culverhouse decision established a national precedent favoring property owners who donate property for a conservation easement like the one the Culverhouse family donated to Sarasota.  Hearne is also appellate counsel for property owners in two pending Florida pipeline condemnation cases that will be heard by the Eleventh Circuit this summer. 

Those following the Supreme Court’s property rights decisions are familiar with Thor’s experience and work in constitutional and property rights litigation.  Hearne was lead counsel for a number of amici curiae (friends of the court) in several of the Supreme Court’s most consequential property rights decisions.  This includes American Farm Bureau Foundation, Cattleman’s Beef Association, American Land Title Association, Public Lands Council, Southwestern Legal Foundation, Pacific Legal Foundation, Cato Foundation, Montana Farm Bureau Foundation, National Federation of Independent Businesses Small Business Foundation, National Association of Reversionary Property Owners, Save our Shoreline and property law professors and scholars, James Ely, Jr. Richard Epstein, Dale Whitman and Donald Kochan, among others.    

Thor argued a constitutional challenge to the State of Arizona redistricting statute before the United States Supreme Court and was supported in the argument by Arizona’s Attorney General. Thor has argued other constitutional and property rights challenges before various state supreme courts including the Florida, Michigan, Missouri and Kansas supreme courts and a number of lower appellate courts.  The Commonwealth of Virginia retained Thor to be Virginia’s lead trial and appellate counsel defending Virginia against a constitutional challenge to the commonwealth’s election laws.  Thor and Virginia prevailed in both trial court and with a unanimous decision in favor of Virginia in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Publications 

Thor has written a number of law reviews and other articles on property rights and constitutional law.  The American Bar Association asked Thor to write one of the leading articles on the Trails Act. “The Trails Act: Railroading Property Owners and Taxpayers for More Than a Quarter Century,” Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal, Vol. 115, Spring 2010.  And, “The Fifth Amendment Requires the Government to Pay an Owner Interest Equal to What the Owner Could Have Earned Had the Government Paid the Owner the Fair-Market Value of Their Property on the Date the Government Took the Owner’s Property,” Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal, Vol. 1, September 2012. 

Testimony Before Congress and Federal Agencies 

• Testimony before the Surface Transportation Board on the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Trails Act including a proposal for a series of legislative and administrative reforms to the Trails Act. 
• United States Commission on Civil Rights — Testimony on Voter Fraud and Voter Intimidation, October 10, 2006. 
• Testimony before US Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, July 2006. 

• Testimony before US House Administration Committee, March 21, 2005. The Help America Vote Act and the 2004 Presidential Election. 
• Testimony before Federal Election Assistance Commission, December 7, 2006. 
• Academic Advisor — Commission on Federal Election Reform (Carter-Baker Commission), 2005.  Senior legal advisor to former Secretary of State James Baker, Jr. 

Bar and Court Admissions 

U.S. Supreme Court  •  U.S. Court of Federal Claims  •  U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit  •  U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit  •  U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit  •  U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit  •  U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit  •  U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit  •  U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit  •  District of Columbia Bar  •  Missouri Supreme Court  •  Michigan Supreme Court  •  Florida Supreme Court – admitted pro hac vice to argue Rogers v. United States.  •  Kansas Supreme Court – admitted pro hac vice to argue Biery et. al v. United States.  

Education 

Washington University School of Law, JD, 1986 

Washington University in St. Louis, BA, 1983 

Life Beyond the Law 

Thor is a private pilot and sailor. In the summer, he and his family enjoy any opportunity they have to escape to Northern Michigan, where Thor grew up in the summer. Thor and his brother are active in efforts to preserve the unique character of the last undeveloped beach–front property in their northern Michigan community.  Part of this effort included Thor writing the Supreme Court amicus brief in support of a writ of certiorari in Gunderson v. State of Indiania.  

Previous Work 

Prior to joining Arent Fox, Steve served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, where he litigated federal civil rights, Federal Tort Claims Act, employment discrimination, and immigration claims in federal, state, and appellate courts as well as assisting in criminal prosecutions. Steve’s successful defense of complex civil claims against the federal government saved taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

After leaving the Department of Justice, Steve served as the Missouri Election Day Operations Director for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, where he oversaw all election law-related issues in the state. 

Earlier in Steve’s career, he served as the 62nd Chief Clerk and Administrator of the Missouri House of Representatives, where he directed all legislative action, performed constitutional duties, and managed all agency staff and operations. Steve also clerked for Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and for the US Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Litigation Highlights 

US Supreme Court 

• Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, No. 14-232 (2015), co-counsel for petitioners, Arizona voters challenging the Arizona state legislative redistricting plan as unconstitutional for violating the fundamental “one person, one vote” principle of the Equal Protection Clause. 
• Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley (No. ), co-counsel for amicus curiae National Association of Evangelicals filing an amicus brief in support of the church in a challenge to Missouri’s prohibition on public aid to religious schools (Missouri’s Blaine Amendment). 
• Brandt v. United States, No. 12-1173 (2014), co-counsel for amicus curiae Cato Institute, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Land Title Association, Public Lands Council, American Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and law professors Richard Epstein, James Ely, Donald Kochan, and Dale Whitman: The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Brandt family and issued a landmark decision protecting property owners’ rights as urged by the amici. 

US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 

• Kloeckner v. Solis, 639 F.3d 834 (8th Cir. 2011), (successful defense of US government on appeal in “mixed” CSRA/employment discrimination claims resulting in clear, favorable 8th Circuit precedent), petition for cert. granted, US Supreme Court opinion at 133 S. Ct. 596 (2012). 
• Harlston v. Office of Personnel Management, 417 Fed. Appx. 596 (8th Cir. 2011) (successful defense against improper claim for federal civil service retirement benefits). 
• Cano v. Geithner, 354 Fed. Appx. 283 (8th Cir. 2009) (successful appeal affirming district court’s order denying federal employees reverse discrimination claim. 

US District Court 

• Lee, et al. v. Virginia State Board of Elections, et al. (No. 3:15CV357, E.D. Va.), co-counsel for the Commonwealth of Virginia defending the state’s voter photo-identification statute from challenge under the Voting Rights Act.  After a two-week trial, the court ruled for Virginia on all counts. 

Missouri Supreme Court 

• Shoemyer v. Kander (No. SC94516), co-counsel for a consortium of Missouri agricultural groups defending the adoption of a state constitutional amendment by initiative petition. 

Professional Activities 

Steve serves as an adjunct law professor at Saint Louis University teaching election law. He also serves on the Missouri Capitol Commission and is past-chairman of the Missouri Bar Advisory Committee on Civic Education. He was the founding chairman of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society St. Louis Chapter and continues to serve on its board. 

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions 

Publications 

•  “The Federal Chevron Doctrine: Once and Future Law in Missouri?” Missouri Bar Journal (May–June 1999). 
•  “Unconstitutionality of the Legislative Veto in Missouri: Mo. Coalition for the Environment v. Joint Comm. on Admin. Rules,” 5 Mo. Environmental Law & Policy Rev. 93 (Fall 1997). 

Recognitions 

Steve has been recognized for his service in the US Attorney’s Office with its Distinguished Service Award and is a 2009 recipient of the St. Louis Business Journal’s “Top 40 Under 40 Award.” In 2016, he was named a Solomon Civic Virtue Awardee by the Missouri Bar for his outstanding contributions to civic education. 

He is an alumnus of the Leadership St. Louis program, a highly selective program that brings together a diverse group of leaders who demonstrate a deep commitment to improving the St. Louis region through experiential learning and community immersion.