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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1


                     CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO EXCHANGE ACT
                 RULES 13A-14 AND 15D-14, AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
                  SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002


I, John B. Schulze, President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

         1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of The
               Lamson & Sessions Co.;

         2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
               statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
               necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
               circumstances under which such statements were made, not
               misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
               financial information included in this report, fairly present in
               all material respects the financial condition, results of
               operations and cash flows of the Registrant as of, and for, the
               periods presented in this report;

         4.    The Registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible
               for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
               procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and
               15d-15(e)) for the Registrant and have:

               a)       Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
                        caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                        designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
                        information relating to the Registrant, including its
                        consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
                        within those entities, particularly during the period in
                        which this report is being prepared;

               b)       [Paragraph omitted pursuant to Securities and Exchange
                        Commission Release Nos. 33-8238 and 34-47986]

               c)       Evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrant's
                        disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this
                        report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
                        disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the
                        period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
                        and

               d)       Disclosed in this report any change in the Registrant's
                        internal control over financial reporting that occurred
                        during the Registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the
                        Registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
                        annual report) that has materially affected, or is
                        reasonably likely to materially affect, the Registrant's
                        internal control over financial reporting; and

         5.    The Registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
               based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
               financial reporting, to the Registrant's auditors and the audit
               committee of the Registrant's board of directors (or persons
               performing the equivalent functions):

               a)       All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses
                        in the design or operation of

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                        internal control over financial reporting which are
                        reasonably likely to adversely affect the Registrant's
                        ability to record, process, summarize and report
                        financial information; and


               b)       Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                        management or other employees who have a significant
                        role in the Registrant's internal control over
                        financial reporting.



October 30, 2003                        /s/ John B. Schulze
                                        ----------------------------------------
                                        John B. Schulze
                                        Chairman of the Board, President
                                        and Chief Executive Officer
                                        (Principal Executive Officer)

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