About Kelly
Kelly Garrett-Hicks built a practical foundation in law through steady study and early courtroom work. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Saint Louis University in 2002 and completed a Juris Doctor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2005. Later, in 2015, she completed Divorce Mediation Skills Training at Northwestern University School of Professional Studies, a course that added mediation techniques to her litigation background.
Her legal career began in private practice. In 2006 she worked as a lawyer at Katzman & Associates. She moved on to the Law Offices of Susan Parnell Wilson in 2009 and then took a senior lawyer role at Stange Law Office LLC in 2011. In 2012 she opened her own practice, operating as the Law Office of Kelly Garrett Hicks. By 2013 she had taken on a managing lawyer position at Hicks & Spector, L.L.C., where she continues to hold a leadership role.
Garrett-Hicks is admitted to practice in both Missouri and Illinois. That dual admission has shaped a career that crosses state lines and court systems. Her mediation training complements courtroom and counseling work. Colleagues and clients encounter an attorney who can move between negotiated solutions and formal litigation steps when circumstances require it.
She maintains active ties to the bar and to her community. Garrett-Hicks holds membership in the Illinois State Bar and the Missouri State Bar. Locally she is involved with the St. Clair County Bar Association and the Monroe County Bar Association. Outside the profession she serves on the boards of Historic Main Street Columbia and the Human Support Services Foundation, roles that put her in contact with historic preservation and social services organizations in her region.
Throughout her career she has balanced private practice and firm management. Her time as an owner and as a managing lawyer reflects experience running casework and overseeing day-to-day operations. Those roles have involved supervising other lawyers, handling client intake and case strategy, and coordinating with court staff across jurisdictions.
Today she practices from Hicks & Spector, L.L.C., where she combines mediation skills with courtroom experience. Her current practice focuses on mediation and representation in matters arising in Missouri and Illinois.
