By Jennifer Henderson, From The Am Law Daily

John Diehl Jr., a real estate development and construction partner at Husch Blackwell in St. Louis who resigned as Missouri House Speaker in May after being embroiled in a sexting scandal, has now also left the Am Law 200 firm.

The 49-year-old married father of three had been caught earlier this year sexting with a female college freshman working as a legislative intern. Despite stepping down from public service, Diehl stayed on at Husch Blackwell. That is, until last week.

“We can confirm that John Diehl resigned from the firm effective Oct. 1,” a spokesman for Husch Blackwell said to The Am Law Daily, declining to comment further. The St. Louis Business Journal first reported the news of Diehl’s departure Monday morning.

An email to Diehl’s Husch Blackwell account yielded a response that read: “The person you are attempting to reach via email is no longer with Husch Blackwell.” Diehl responded to a forwarding email for the Diehl Law Group contacted by The Am Law Daily. While out of the office in “client meetings” on Monday, he did provide the following statement praising his now former firm.

“I appreciate my time at Husch and for the relationships I built there,” Diehl said. “I look forward to continuing to provide excellent legal and strategic advice and counsel to my clients on my new platform.”

Diehl, who joined Husch Blackwell a year ago this month from Missouri-based Am Law 200 rival Armstrong Teasdale, did not return a request for comment from The Am Law Daily at the time the scandal broke. However, he did issue a statement to the press.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and am truly sorry to those I let down,” Diehl said. “I apologize for the poor judgment I displayed that put me and those closest to me in this situation. I also regret that the woman has been dragged into this situation. The buck stops here. I ask for forgiveness.”

The Kansas City Star originally broke news of the sexting scandal, reporting the messages sent between Diehl and the Missouri Capitol intern “unveil a flirty rapport and suggest an intimacy between arguably the state’s most influential lawmaker and a young woman taking some pleasure in a secret association.”

While the intern has remained unnamed, Diehl’s sexting isn’t the only matter he’s had to contend with since leaving public office.

In June, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star reported that the FBI was making inquiries about Diehl’s alleged relationship with a Missouri public relations consultant and former gubernatorial aide who secured a $75,000-a-year government contract.

IMAGE: John Diehl Jr., formerly of Husch Blackwell David Lieb/AP

For more on this story go to: http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202738973373/Husch-Blackwell-Partner-Leaves-Firm-After-Sexting-Scandal#ixzz3nu2zbU8Q