HOME | ABOUT US | MEDIA KIT | CONTACT US | INQUIRE
HOME | ABOUT US | MEDIA KIT | CONTACT US | INQUIRE
From full-service heavyweights who rank among the nation’s largest law firms to bantamweights slugging it out in various legal specialties, the Kansas City region boasts an impressive array of transactional and litigation talent to support the needs of businesses and individuals.
The past year has been one of significant developments at the largest law firm in this market—measured by numbers of attorneys working here—but another significant change looms. On the back stretch of his third five-year term as chairman at Shook, Hardy & Bacon, John Murphy is preparing to hand off those executive duties in 2016 at one of the nation’s premier product-liability law firms.
Some recent developments may smack of inside baseball to the layman, but all are essential to the firm’s ability to maintain its status and market share in this region.
Shook solidified its presence in the nation’s midsection by opening a Chicago office with the acquisition of the boutique commercial litigation firm, giving it a bigger national and international footprint in that area. It also received a high-level certification of its data- security guidelines and policies. And it bagged its third Value Champion Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel, designating delivery of client value on cost, cost-effectiveness and efficiency. That marked the first time a firm had won the award for its work with three different clients.
In the courtroom, the firm prevailed in cases for big-name clients like Boston Scientific, Cerner Corp., Coca-Cola and Remington Arms. “Overall,” Murphy said, “the trial calendar was not only busy, but quite successful for us.”
During his 15-year run in the top slot, he’s managed Shook through profound changes in the legal sector. “I’ll miss the day-to-day interaction with partners, clients, and with really good C-suite people on the administrative side,” he said. “Waking up 3 a.m. worrying about something, that I won’t miss. But I’m sure I’ll still wake up a 3 a.m. worrying about something else!”
John Murphy, Managing Partner/Chair
Year Established: 1889
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 293 Partners in KC Area: 122
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 481 Number of Offices: 12
Primary Areas of Practice: Product liability, intellectual property, business litigation, data privacy & security
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
What has growth looked like at one of Kansas City’s—and the nation’s—fastest-growing law firms? Consider this: Less than a decade ago, Polsinelli’s Chicago office had six attorneys. That was in 2006. Earlier this year, that office, one of 17 nationwide, saw its lawyer count surpass 100.
In that same time frame, the number of lawyers the firm employs in the Kansas City area has grown by nearly 100, as well, and the numbers from coast to coast have nearly doubled. Whether it’s a thriving national health-care practice—which earlier this year earned the impressive designation from Modern Healthcare as the nation’s largest—beefing up real estate lawyers in Denver, IP lawyers in Dallas, realty finance pros in New York or positioning itself to double the size of its staff in Los Angeles, the firm has been riding a growth arc that defies what’s happened to most large firms in the wake of the Great Recession.
The much-touted end year of that recession, 2009, was also a watershed year at the firm, which saw the former Polsinelli Shalton Flannigan Suelthaus firm merge with another Top 10 market leader, Shughart Thompson & Kilroy, to form Polsinelli Shughart. The name shortened in 2013 to Polsinelli, P.C., but that’s about the only thing contracting at the Plaza firm.
Along the way, the firm’s role in major cases and civic-related work has remained strong. Polsinelli, for example, had the lead role in crafting the proposal for a new 800-room Downtown Hyatt, a project announced in May. It also provided legal counsel for Sporting Kansas City’s development of the U.S. Soccer National Training Center complex, scheduled to break ground this fall in Kansas City, Kansas. Thatt facility would serve as a destination training site for U.S. Soccer and that organization’s coaching and referee education programs.
Jim Polsinelli and a handful of colleagues founded the firm more than 40 years ago to serve business and real estate clients. Today, its lawyers in 20 practice concentrations serve more than a dozen business sectors, as well as startups and family-owned businesses, franchises and distributorships. It also provides extensive pro bono services.
Russ Welsh, Chairman/CEO
Year Established: 1972
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 255 Partners in KC Area: 156
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 733 Number of Offices: 19
Primary Areas of Practice: Real estate, business, tax & estate planning, litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Attorneys at Lathrop & Gage share the firm’s passion for putting clients’ business decisions first, says CEO Mark Bluhm, and that has not only allowed for growth in several offices, but the hiring of additional legal staff to serve those clients. That kind of growth helped Lathrop & Gage surge up one spot, to third place on our list, based on numbers of lawyers in the Kansas City market.
“In St. Louis, we added a tax-credit finance group as well as a franchise and brand-development team,” said Bluhm, running through a checklist of developments from the firm’s 10 offices nationwide. In the life-sciences hotbed that is Boston, he said, the firm had bolstered its intellectual property team to add more support to the biotechnology and life-science group, while in Chicago, it beefed up the numbers of attorneys in various practice areas, including intellectual property, corporate and environmental law.
“Our new additions and veteran attorneys have created much success for our clients this year at the local and national level,” Bluhm said. “We look forward to obtaining more wins for them in the years to come.”
The past year was another incremental advance in a long series of them, dating to the firm’s founding in 1873—that makes it among the oldest continuously operating law firms in this marketplace. With nearly 20 practice areas and litigation specialties, the firm works in long-established sectors like agribusiness, banking and health care, and in sectors taking on new luster in this region, such as logistics, telecommunications and data security, biotechnology and life sciences.
So what’s next for the firm? “We anticipate another successful year of steady growth,” Bluhm said. “Our new client offerings and overall success for our clients has allowed us to hire passionate and diverse talent.”
Among the highlights at Lathrop & Gage over the past year, 22 members of its legal staff were recognized by Chambers USA, one of the most prestigious ranking organizations in the legal field. Chambers cited them for their most significant work and current clients. It also recognized the firm overall for the work done within its practice concentrations of environment, real estate, labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions and litigation.
Mark Bluhm, CEO
Year Established: 1873
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 174 Partners in KC Area: 97
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 318 Number of Offices: 10
Primary Areas of Practice: Bankruptcy, business litigation, corporate, employee benefits, environmental, government relations, health care, intellectual property, labor and employment, real estate, tax, tort, wealth strategies
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
The past year was one of significant change at the former Stinson Morrison Hecker. On the first day of 2014, it became Stinson Leonard Street, merging with a prominent Minneapolis firm, with each organizations skill sets complementing the other’s. When you’re going from an organization of fewer than 200 attorneys to one nearly double that, it can take a while to ease into the new normal. Not at Stinson.
“Going in, we had planned to take about 2½ years to go from being two separate firms, with long histories and established operations, into one firm,” said Mark Hinderks, managing partner in Kansas City. “It turns out we’ve accelerated that beyond our wildest expectations.”
Tech operations produced a unified network and e-mail and document-management system almost right away, he said. From a practice perspective, thanks in large part to some early successes in connecting clients of each firm to the newfound expertise throughout the enterprise, “we really found amenability to working across a larger platform that moved more quickly than we had expected.” That, he said, led to an outstanding year from a financial perspective, in 2014, but also to a year of high marks gauging the satisfaction levels of both clients and legal staff.
Virtually every aspect of operations has been affected, from management and administrative leadership roles, he said, and now it’s as if the firm were operating as fluidly as if it had been unified for the breadth of the 135 years Stinson has been in business.
It now offers some new practice areas to Kansas City clients, “and serious depth in areas where might have had some practice but not as robust a range as our client base would have liked,” Hinderks said. One example: energy, both in the transactional and litigation sides. The merger picked up additional strength in both areas for clients here, he said. Same for mergers and acquisitions, class-action financial services litigation, and corporate law to benefit family-owned companies, complementing previous strength in public companies. “With that depth,” Hinderks said, “comes the credibility of having a broader range of specific experience, which is what clients like to see.”
Mark Hinderks, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1878
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 153 Partners in KC Area: 109
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 499 Number of Offices: 14
Primary Areas of Practice: Banking and financial services, corporate finance, energy and environmental, labor and employment, litigation, real estate tax
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
The legal business, says Jeff Simon, managing partner for the Kansas City offices of Husch Blackwell, is changing faster than it ever has. “It’s making up for decades of lack of change,” he mused. “All companies are changing, of course, but we have a lot to make up for in law.”
Technology and IT is a piece of that, he said, and evidence of the firm’s commitment to growth in those areas was its sponsoring role in the recent TechWeek event in Kansas City, the first time that event has been held here. That event put this region’s name on a national stage; it’s now one of just six nationwide to host that extravaganza.
That’s only one small measurement of the way the firm is adapating the the changing business world around it. A larger set of metrics can be divined from the changes that came in early 2014, after Husch’s innovative restructuring of the sector’s traditional practice-group organization. By rebuilding its legal staff around industry sectors, it achieved operational efficiencies that were missing under the previous division of transactional lawyers in one arm and litigators in another. “What we’ve found is that it is working and it’s really beginning to resonate with clients,” Simon said. “At the time, it was so novel and innovative an idea, people at first were asking, ‘How does this work?’ But as clients get used to the idea and how it is able to deliver additional value, we’re beginning to see it get its legs. It’s something that, as those who are buying legal services have become more aware of with what it means for them, the more attractive it becomes for them.”
Looking out at the broader Kansas City legal landscape, Simon sees a sector that is holding even, and still inching its way back up to pre-recession levels. “In 2008, demand for legal services simply froze,” he said. “It has not come back in any robust manner yet—maybe for certain segments it has, but I think everyone is still trying to get back to the aggressive growth we enjoyed for 10-15 years before that.”
The new environment, he said, has ratcheted up the competition factor among firms. “When the pie is not getting any bigger, the only way to increase your share is to grab it from someone else,” he said.
Maurice Watson, Chairman / Jeff Simon, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1916
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 123 Partners in KC Area: 68
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 514 Number of Offices: 14
Primary Areas of Practice: Energy, manufacturing, financial services, food and agribusiness, health care, real estate and technology
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo. and St. Louis, Mo.
Bryan Cave’s business and litigation expertise serves a diverse client base around the world, including businesses, financial institutions, not-for-profit organizations, government entities and individual clients. It’s consistently rated among the strongest firms for mergers and acquisitions, with 103 deals featuring a U.S. target in 2014. The firm has more than 1,000 lawyers and consulting professionals in 25 offices spread across North America, Europe and Asia.
1200 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64105
816.374.3200, Fax: 816.374.3300, www.bryancave.com
Perry Brandt, Kansas City Office Managing Partner
Year Established: 1988
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 75 Partners in KC Area: 26
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 1,039 Number of Offices: 26
Primary Areas of Practice: Commerical litigation, bankruptcy, labor & employment, lending & business finance, life sciences, M&A, public finance
Company Headquarters: St. Louis, Mo.
Spencer Fane Britt & Browne is a full-service firm in the truest sense; its practice areas cover environmental enforcement and compliance, labor and employment, employee benefits, dispute resolution and litigation, business transactions, financial services, economic development and incentives, intellectual property, tax and estate planning, health care, and governmental affairs and much more, at the state, federal and appellate levels.
1000 Walnut St., Ste. 1400, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.474.8100, Fax: 816.474.3216, www.spencerfane.com
Patrick Whalen, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1952
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 67 Partners in KC Area: 43
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 135 Number of Offices: 8
Primary Areas of Practice: Bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, employee benefits, environmental, estate planning, financial services, health care, IP, litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
A one-firm microcosm of Big Law going global, Dentons is one of the world’s 10 largest firms, with roots dating to the colonial era in the U.S. It operates on four continents, North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, and the Kansas City office counts among its clients Kansas City Power & Light, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, Van Trust Real Estate and the Jordan Co.
4520 Main St., Ste. 1100, Kansas City, MO 64111
816.460.2400, Fax: 816.531.7545, www.dentons.com
John Snyder, Kansas City Managing Partner
Year Established: 1994
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 50 Partners in KC Area: 32
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 2,368 Number of Offices: 75
Primary Areas of Practice: Corporate, litigation, real estate, IP, technology, employment, insurance, energy & utility, tax, health care, white collar
Company Headquarters: N/A
If you can judge a law firm by the company it keeps, then judge Seigfreid Bingham as a Kansas City pillar; clients include the Chiefs, Helzberg Diamonds, Andrews McMeel Universal and other big-name firms. Its 16 practice areas vary widely, from M&A and IP business law to environmental and employment law, real estate and development, tax, technology and non-profit law, and more.
911 Main St., Ste. 2800, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.421.4460, Fax: 816.474.3447, www.seigfreidbingham.com
Steve Kyle, CEO
Year Established: 1974
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 43 Partners in KC Area: 26
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 43 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Corporate, litigation, health care, employment, construction, estate planning, real estate, tax
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Wallace Saunders, Austin Brown & Enochs offers business law and litigation services, including health and worker’s compensation law, litigation services in professional and product liability, insurance and criminal law and other areas. Founded in 1963, it now operates across the metro area with offices in Kansas City and Overland Park, and others in Springfield, Mo., and Wichita, Kan.
10111 W. 87th St.., Overland Park, KS 66212
913.888.1000, Fax: 913.888.1065, www.wallacesaunders.com
Mark McKinzie, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1963
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 40 Partners in KC Area: 29
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 48 Number of Offices: 4
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation, insurance, professional liability, construction & design, transportation & trucking, employment, products liability, real estate, corporate, wills, trusts & estate planning, workers’ compensation
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
Perhaps Wyandotte County’s premier law firm, and at 114, one of its oldest McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips operates in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Whether the client is a for-profit, not-for-profit or government entities, an individuals or a business, MVP offers legal services in real estate, finance, litigation, and not-for-profit law.
10 East Cambridge Circle Dr., Ste. 300, Kansas City, KS 66103
913.371.3838, Fax: 913.371.4722, www.mvplaw.com
Frederick Greenbaum, Firm President
Year Established: 1901
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 38 Partners in KC Area: 26
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 58 Number of Offices: 6
Primary Areas of Practice: Business, banking/finance, labor & employment, litigation, education, work comp/insurance defense, government & municipalities, real estate, professional liability, personal injury, product liability
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Kan.
When it comes to matters of municipal bond issuance, Gilmore & Bell has a sterling reputation as a national leader in both the numbers of cases handled and the aggregate dollar volumes involved. It primarily serves the financing needs of states, counties, cities, school districts and other governmental entities. The Kansas City-based firm also has offices in Wichita,Kan., Edwardsville, Ill., Omaha and Lincoln, Neb.
2405 Grand Blvd, Ste. 1100, Kansas City, MO 64108
816.221.1000, Fax: 816.221.1018, www.gilmorebell.com
Gary Anderson, President/CEO
Year Established: 1979
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 33 Partners in KC Area: 26
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 50 Number of Offices: 5
Primary Areas of Practice: Public finance transactions, tax and arbitrage rebate services, commercial and corporate finance transactions, securities law.
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Now more than 500-strong with its staff of lawyers, Omaha-based Kutak Rock is a full-service firm with a rich history in financial services. Every major investment banking firm in the U.S. has been, at one time, a Kutak Rock client, as have Fortune 500 companies and banks on three continents in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The firm also serves insurance companies, real-estate investors and developers, major national franchising enterprises and financial institutions.
1010 Grand Blvd., Ste. 500, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.960.0090, Fax: 816.960.0041, www.kutakrock.com
Jay Selanders, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1994
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 33 Partners in KC Area: 18
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 500 Number of Offices: 16
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation, real estate, public & corporate finance, health care, corporate tax, securities & tax credit, IP & technology
Company Headquarters: Omaha, Neb.
Insurance law is one area where Sanders Warren & Russell has built its reputation with litigation and business services, but the Overland Park firm also offers multiple business-law specialties, including construction law, product liability and professional negligence, estate and tax planning, intellectual property and more. It was founded in 1999 and has additional offices in south Kansas City and Springfield, Mo.
9401 Indian Creek Pkwy., Ste. 1250, Overland Park, KS 66210
913.234.6100, Fax: 913.234.6199, www.swrllp.com
William Sanders, Jr., Roger W. Warren, Bradley Russell, Partners
Year Established: 1999
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 33 Partners in KC Area: 14
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 37 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation and corporate
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
Wagstaff & Cartmell thrives when the stakes are at their highest and a case is bound for court, whether that entails complex commercial cases, lawsuits involving drugs or medical devices, environmental cases, trucking accidents or allegations of medical, product or professional liability. It also defends cases of complex criminal litigation and white-collar crime, and offers arbitration, mediation and negotiation services.
4740 Grand, Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.701.1100, Fax: 816.531.2372, www.wagstaffcartmell.com
Tom Wagstaff, Tom Cartmell, Partners
Year Established: 1997
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 32 Partners in KC Area: 15
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 28 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Complex litigation, personal injury, mass tort
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Plaza-based McDowell, Rice, Smith & Buchanan offers a broad range of business-law services, including expertise in transactions, bankruptcy and cases of financial restructuring, but you can find specialists at work there in real-estate transactions, contracts, commercial construction, tax and estate planning, employment and labor law, and family law. Other offices are located in Overland Park and in Springfield. Mo.
605 W. 47th St., Ste. 350, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.753.5400, Fax: 816.753.9996, www.mcdowellrice.com
Pete Smith, President
Year Established: 1947
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 31 Partners in KC Area: 24
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 31 Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Civil & complex litigation, bankruptcy, debtor & creditor rights, real estate, estate planning, employment, malpractice, business, family law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
From individuals to Fortune 500 companies, the client roster is deep and varied for Lewis Rice, and includes prominent companies like Post cereals, beverage distributor Major Brands, and the energy/manufacturing sector’s CIC Group. Now 116 years old, the firm founded in St. Louis has a staff that works in mattesr of financial services, manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, publishing, broadcasting, health care, insurance and other sectors.
1010 Walnut St., Ste. 500, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.421.2500, Fax: 816.472.2500, www.lewisrice.com
William E. Carr, Managing Member
Year Established: 1948
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 31 Partners in KC Area: 20
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 152 Number of Offices: 7
Primary Areas of Practice: Real estate, business, tax & estate planning, litigation
Company Headquarters: N/A
Litigation is the name of the game at Berkowitz Oliver Williams Shaw & Eisenbrandt, a firm that was founded by six trial lawyers in 1997. Today, it makes its living in state and federal courts and appellate courts not just in Kansas City, but nationwide. Among its practice areas are business litigation and class-action defense, employment and intellectual property law, white-collar criminal defense, securities litigation and product-liability cases.
2600 Grand Blvd., Ste. 1200, Kansas City, MO 64108
816.561.7007, Fax: 816.561.1888, www.berkowitzoliver.com
David Oliver, Member of Management Committee
Year Established: 1997
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 28 Partners in KC Area: 24
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 28 Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Business law & litigation, labor and ip law, product liability, securities litigation/arbitratoin, white-collar defense
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Founded in 1992, the Kansas City-based firm of Franke Schultz & Mullen specializes in virtually any aspect of civil litigation, and its attorneys have tried more than 400 cases over the course of the firm’s 23-year history. With additional offices in St. Louis and Springfield, the firm boasts a power clientele that has included Phillips Petroleum, Shell Oil Co., Conoco-Phillips Ford Motor Credit, Marriott International and Domino’s Pizza.
8900 Ward Pkwy., Kansas City, MO 64114
816.421.7100, Fax: 816.421.7915, www.fsmlawfirm.com
John Schultz, President
Year Established: 1992
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 26 Partners in KC Area: 11
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 26 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Civil defense and product liability, transporattion, construction, insurance coverage, bad-faith litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Whether for large corporate clients or individuals, the firm of Foland, Wickens, Eisfelder, Roper & Hofer is all about litigation, commercial and business law, construction, employment law, financial services, health care and insurance law, product and professional liability, transportation law and worker’s compensation. Mediation and arbitration services are also part of the plan, as is alternative dispute resolution.
1200 Main Street, Ste. 2200, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.472.7474, Fax: 816.472.6262, www.fwpclaw.com
Joe Roper, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1997
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 26 Partners in KC Area: 10
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 28 Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice specializes in litigation defense, including product liability, class-action lawsuits and medical malpractice cases. In addition to small-business clients, it serves companies that, in many cases, are the backbone of the economy: in aerospace, automotive and trucking, financial services, construction, health care, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, insurance, hospitality, retail and food and beverage.
2400 Pershing Road, Ste. 500, Kansas City, MO 64108
816.471.2121, Fax: 816.472.0288, www.bscr-law.com
Scott Kreamer, Managing Member
Year Established: 1982
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 25 Partners in KC Area: 18
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 33 Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Complex litigation, product liability, toxic tort
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Founded 115 years ago and based in Clayton, Mo., Armstrong Teasdale has local offices on both sides of the state line, in Kansas City and Overland Park. In addition to the headquarters serving the St. Louis area, it also operates in Jefferson City and Springfield and has two office in Illinois, plus operations in Denver, Las Vegas and Shanghai, China. The firm is defined by both its litigation and expertise in business law and intellectual property law; it operates the largest patent practice in the St. Louis region.
2345 Grand Blvd., Ste. 1500, Kansas City, MO 64108
816.221.3420, Fax: 816.221.0786, www.armstrongteasdale.com
Larry Tucker, Managing Attorney
Year Established: 1901
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 24 Partners in KC Area: 15
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 223 Number of Offices: 8
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation, employment and labor, intellectual property, franchise, public finance, corporate services, real estae
Company Headquarters: Clayton, Mo.
It’s not a big firm, but it definitely packs the big punch you’d expect from one: lawyers from Stueve Siegel Hanson have won hundreds of millions in dollars for their clients over the past five years, and eight-figure outcomes are hallmarks of its success with business disputes. The staff handles cases of consumer and securities fraud, personal injury and whistleblower protection for a varied client base that includes individuals as well as global corporations.
460 Nichols Road, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.714.7100, Fax: 816.714.7101, www.stuevesiegel.com
Patrick Stueve, Norman Siegel and George Hanson, Partners
Year Established: 2001
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 24 Partners in KC Area: 10
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 28 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Business disputes, consumer fraud, securites fraud, personal injury
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
If it’s a legal matter, you’re likely to find someone at Payne & Jones who concentrates on the practice area you need. The Overland Park firm lists nearly four dozen practice concentrations, from arbitration to wrongful death. Included in that mix you’ll find lawyers versed in business law, family law and estate planning, DUI and personal injury cases, discrimination and employment law, real-estate law and more.
11000 King, Overland Park, KS 66211
913.469.4100, Fax: 913.469.8182, www.paynejones.com
Thomas Jones, President
Year Established: 1926
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 22 Partners in KC Area: 16
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 22 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Banking, business planning and formation, bankruptcy
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
The Overland Park office of Foulston Siefkin is the market branch of a full-service firm based in Wichita. The firm specializes in all manner of business law, which accounts for many of its nearly 50 practice areas. Some of the state’s biggest companies are clients, and they hail from key city and state business sectors of aerospace, agribusiness, construction, energy, education, financial services, health care, manufacturing, retail, real estate, and technology.
1551 N Waterfront Pkwy, Ste 100, Wichita, KS 67206
316.267.6371, Fax: 316.267.6345, www.foulston.com
James Oliver, Partner-in-Charge
Year Established: 2001
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 22 Partners in KC Area: 12
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 90 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Health care, corporate and securities, general business, M&A, commerical litigation, emplyment, IP, real estate, water rights
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan. and Wichita, Kan.
Douthit Frets handles cases as varied as catastrophic loss, transportation-related accidents and defective products, or construction matters, as well as guidance in commercial and financial-services issues affecting entrepreneurs, business owners and small- to mid-size companies. It also provides a line-up of services in the health-care space, including malpractice defense.
5250 W. 116th Place, Overland Park, KS 66211
913.387.1600, Fax: 913.387.6400, www.dfrglaw.com
Evan Douthit, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1995
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 22 Partners in KC Area: 12
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 31 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Business, construction, energy and real estate law, commercial litigation, medical malpractice defense, estate planning
Company Headquarters: Leawood, Kan.
They play serious defense at Rasmussen, Willis, Dickey & Moore, which specializes, among other things, in medical malpractice and professional liability , as well as environmental and product liability law. The firm also has offices in St. Louis and Los Angeles, and providing legal guidance to companies, insurance carriers and others on trial preparation and courtroom strategies.
9200 Wark Parkway, Suite 400, Kansas City, MO 64114
816.960.1611, Fax: 816.960.1669, www.rwdmlaw.com
Vince Gunter, CEO
Year Established: 1996
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 22 Partners in KC Area: 12
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 22 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Product liability defense, professional liability, commercial litigation, insurance defense
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Horn Aylward & Bandy got its start in 1999 as primarily a litigation firm, and that specialty remains at the core of what the firm does today. But it also counts among its competencies such diverse concentrations as business transactions, employment law and insurance defense, construction law, health care, long-term care and estate planning, plus insurance and transportation.
2600 Grand Blvd., Suite 1100, Kansas City, MO 64108
816.421.0700, Fax: 816.421.0899, www.hab-law.com
Management Committee, –
Year Established: 1995
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 21 Partners in KC Area: 19
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 21 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Civil, employment, medical malpractice and class-action litigation, commercial, insurance constructoin and health-care law, long-term care and estate/tax planning
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, MO
The fall of 1929 wasn’t an ideal time for launching a new business, but the founders of Hovey Williams thrived on innovation of their own—one had to during the Great Depression, after all—and things have worked out quite well for more than 85 years. The Overland Park firm’s specialties include work in patents, trademarks, intellectual property law and litigation services, copyright law and trade secrets.
10801 Mastin St., Ste. 1000, Overland Park, KS 66210
913.647.9050, Fax: 913.647.9057, www.hoveywilliams.com
Partner Committee
Year Established: 1929
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 21 Partners in KC Area: 12
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 23 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Intellectual property
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
White Goss, as it’s known in legal-circle shorthand, is highly regarded for its work in real-estate and development law, including issues involving land use, public incentives and transactions. But members of the legal staff also concentrate on business litigation, conflict resolution, mergers and acquisitions, employment law and white-collar criminal litigation, serving some of the best-known corporate names in this region.
4510 Belleview, Ste. 300, Kansas City, MO 64111
816.753.9200, Fax: 816.753.9201, www.whitegoss.com
Harold Goss, Managing Partner
Year Established: 2000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 21 Partners in KC Area: 11
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 23 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Land use, zoning, real estate and development, corporate, litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Though based in Wichita, the Martin Pringle firm serves both sides of the region with offices in Kansas City and Overland Park. Working in venues of civil law and litigation, in trial as well as appellate settings, the firm sports concentrations in aviation law, business and commercial law, employment law, banking and creditor’s rights, medical malpractice defense, environmental law, insurance law, energy law, product liability and construction law, among more than two dozen fields of legal expertise.
100 N Broadway, Ste 500, Wichita, KS 67202
316.265.9311, www.martinpringle.com
Scott Tschudy, Attorney Partner-Executive Committee Member
Year Established: 1996
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 21 Partners in KC Area: 9
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 48 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Full-service business law and litigation practice.
Company Headquarters: Wichita, Kan.
Baty Holm Numrich & Otto is a civil-litigation specialist, managing caseloads involving workers’ compensation claims, general business law, personal injury and professional or product liability cases, construction defects, employment law and more. The main office is in Kansas City, with branches in the St. Louis area, Springfield and on the Kansas side, in Shawnee.
4600 Madison Ave., Suite 210, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.531.7200, Fax: 816.531.7201, www.batyholm.com
Lee Baty, Partner
Year Established: 1929
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 20 Partners in KC Area: 11
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: N/A Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Civil litigation, worker’s compensation and employment law, business law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Midwestern values are foundations for Morrow Willnauer Klosterman Church, a Kansas City firm with offices in St. Louis and Omaha. The firm serves a national clientele in cases involving civil litigation, workers’ compensation and corporate law. The firm’s member lawyers have taken part in more than 150 jury trials, and more than 200 workers’ compensation and bench trials.
Executive Hills East, Building A; 10401 Holmes, # 300, Kansas City, MO 64131
816.382.1382, Fax: 816.382.1383, www.mwklaw.com
James Morrow, Managing Member
Year Established: 1999
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 20 Partners in KC Area: 8
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 22 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Business litigation, casualty litigation, workers compensation, tax, estate planning
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Banking and financial services, bankruptcy and creditor’s rights are all in the wheelhouse of Dunn & Davison, a Kansas City firm that goes beyond business transactions to work in concentrations of catastrophic loss, product liability and even railroad regulatory issues. Founded in 2009, it’s among the youngest of the region’s firms, and prides itself on a successful blend of young innovators and experienced legal professionals.
1100 Walnut St., Suite 2900, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.292.7601, www.dunndavison.com
Brian Dunn, Managing Parther
Year Established: 2000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 19 Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 22 Number of Offices: 7
Primary Areas of Practice: Business law and litigation, estate planning, construction, immigration and labor law.
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Robust. That’s the best way to describe the roster of services offered by Stevens & Brand, the largest law firm based in Lawrence, Kan. From adoption to zoning, the 90-year-old firm covers a waterfront that includes financial services law (for commercial clients as well as individuals with tax and estate-planning needs), family law, real estate and construction and a suite of business-law services.
900 Massachusetts St # 500, Lawrence, KS 66044
785.843.0811, Fax: 785.843.1195, www.stevensbrand.com
Peter Curran, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1925
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 19 Partners in KC Area: 16
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 19 Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Full-service firm serving corporate and individual clients.
Company Headquarters: Lawrence, Kan.
For a firm with fewer than 20 lawyers, the firm of Dysart Taylor Cotter McMonigle & Montemore flexes its muscles in a diverse set of practice areas that include transportation, financial services and insurance construction and labor law, intellectual property, tax law and real estate law. The firm also offers services in both litigation and arbitration and mediation, as well as appellate law.
4420 Madison Avenue, Ste. 200, Kansas City, MO 64111
816.931.2700, Fax: 816.931.7377, www.dysarttaylor.com
Mandy Ketchum, Managing Director
Year Established: 1934
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 19 Partners in KC Area: 14
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 19 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Aviation, business, commercial & bankruptcy; construction; estate planning & probate; tax, insurance; IP, labor law, litigation & dispute resolution; products liability; real estate; transportation, foreign trade
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
This firm’s mission is statet right there below the nameplate: Trial Lawyers. Since its founding, the firm has been involved in hundreds of jury and bench trials and arbitrations. It offers litigation services in class actions, complex cases, construction, environmental, consumer fraud, product liability, personal injury/wrongful death, pharmaceutical, health care and medical malpractice.
1100 Main St., Suite 2500, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.421.6620, Fax: 816.421.4747, www.wbsvlaw.com
Fred Walters, Managing Shareholder
Year Established: 1991
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 18 Partners in KC Area: 9
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 18 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation firm specializing in personal injury, wrongful death, class actions, construction/environmental, medical malpractice and product liability
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Blake & Uhlig is a labor and employment law specialist with a long history of representing labor organizations governed by the National Labor Relations Act and public-sector labor laws. Its lawyers work at both federal and state court venues, conduct arbitration hearings and deal with government administrative processes across a wide range of federal agencies. They also offer their union clients legal guidance on matters of internal governance.
753 State Ave., Suite 475, Kansas City, KS 66101
913.321.8884, Fax: 913.321.2396, www.blake-uhlig.com
Robert Henry, Partner
Year Established: 1972
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 18 Partners in KC Area: 8
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 18 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Labor law and employee benefits
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Kan.
SouthLaw, formerly known as South & Associates, began in 1995, but traces its roots to 1973, when Alan South founded his practice to focus on creditor’s rights. The firm specializes in default servicing, dealing with foreclosures, bankruptcies, evictions, title resolution and other instances of contracts going bad. With two Kansas City-area offices, the firm also operates in Wichita, St. Louis, Omaha and Des Moines.
6363 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66211
913.663.7600, Fax: 913.663.7899, www.southlaw.com
Alan South, Shareholder
Year Established: 1995
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 18 Partners in KC Area: 6
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 26 Number of Offices: 5
Primary Areas of Practice: Foreclosure, bankruptcy, eviction, litigation
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
Fisher Patterson Sayler & Smith is a legacy Topeka firm, one of the city’s oldest and largest, with a long list of business-law services as well as civil rights expertise, construction litigation, government liability, medical malpractice, product and professional liability services. Its commercial focus includes real-estate development and zoning law.
3550 SW 5th St., Topeka, KS 66601
785.232.7761, Fax: 785.232.6604, www.fisherpatterson.com
Justice King, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1909
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 17 Partners in KC Area: 9
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 18 Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Insurance defense litigation, municipal and governmental liability defense, employment and civil rights litigation, medical malpractice defense, defense of allied medical practitioners and long term care
Company Headquarters: Topeka, Kan.
Slagle, Bernard & Gorman is a full-service personal, business and litigation firm with concentrations in corporate law and business formation, partnerships, finance, acquisitions and dispositions, securities, real estate, tax-exempt organizations, pension and profit-sharing and other employee benefits. It complements that focus on commerce with personal legal services that included estate and tax planning, trust and probate administration, elder law guidance, charitable gift planning and other specialities.
4600 Madison Ave., Suite 600, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.410.4600, Fax: 816.561.4498, www.sbg-law.com
Executive Committee, –
Year Established: 1919
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 16 Partners in KC Area: 14
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 17 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Full-service business law and litigation practice.
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Founded in 1886, Swanson Midgley is among Kansas City’s oldest firms, focusing on business law, estate planning and litigation for individuals and Fortune 500 companies alike. Its boasts an extensive suite of business law practice concentrations, plus litigation services in 20 legal specialties.
4600 Madison Ave. Suite 1100, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.842.6100, Fax: 816.842.0013, www.swansonmidgley.com
James Freeman III, Managing Member
Year Established: 1886
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 16 Partners in KC Area: 10
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 16 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Banking and financial services, corporate and business transactions, employment benefits and executive compensation services, intellectual property and technology services, litigation and arbitration services, real estate services, tax services, trusts and estates
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Based in Independence, this litigation firm has carved out a reputation for winning big cases. But then again, Humphrey, Farrington & McClain usually has a lot on the line, with cases involving personal injury and wrongful death, toxic exposure, transportation and construction accidents and other life-and-death matters. Since 1984, the firm has secured more than $1 billion in damages for clients—an average of $32 million a year for more than three decades.
221 W. Lexington, Ste. 400, Independence, MO 64051
816.836.5050, www.hfmlegal.com
Rachelle Johnson, Office Manager
Year Established: 1984
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 16 Partners in KC Area: 9
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 16 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation firm specializing in personal injury, professional liability, construction defects and toxic torts.
Company Headquarters: Independence, MO
The Kansas City office represents a national firm that has co-headquarters in Atlanta and in Greenville, S.C. As with the parent, this office is known for its acumen with workplace and labor issues, which are core to the firm’s mission. In addition, it has lawyers with concentrations in construction law, higher education, sports and entertainment and other fields.
4520 Main St. Suite 400, Kansas City, MO 64111
816.471.1301, Fax: 816.471.1303, www.ogletreedeakins.com
Trina Le Riche, Managing Shareholder
Year Established: 2005
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 16 Partners in KC Area: 8
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 750 Number of Offices: 48
Primary Areas of Practice: Employment law, traditional labor relations, wage and hour, employee benefits
Company Headquarters: Greenville, S.C. & Atlanta, Ga.
Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Goza is a Leawood-based firm with a laser focus on litigation, covering personal injury cases, dangerous drugs or products, business and insurance, class actions and appeals across the board. Jim Bartimus, a one-time medical school student who specializes in medical malpractice cases, founded the firm in 1977.
11150 Overbrook Road, Ste 200, Leawood, KS 66211
913.266.2300, Fax: 913.266.2366, www.bflawfirm.com
James Bartimus, President
Year Established: 1992
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 15 Partners in KC Area: 11
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 15 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Complex civil litigation, class actions, commercial cases, medical malpractice, product liability, pharmaceutical, personal injury
Company Headquarters: Leawood, Kan.
Van Osdol & Magruder doesn’t just boast of being The Biggest Little Law Firm in Kansas City—it owns the registered trademark on that tag. A full lineup of 16 practice areas—largely business law-related, but incorporating family law, criminal defense, and charitable/non-profit work—mark the skill sets of this Downtown-based firm, which also has offices in Overland Park and Independence.
911 Main St., Suite 2400, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.421.0758, www.vomer.com
Tom Willy, President
Year Established: 1940
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 14 Partners in KC Area: 9
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 14 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Business, non-profit, criminal defense, estate planning, family law, health care law, IP, tax and litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
The newest firm on this list, Erise specializes in intellectual property and patent law. Cofounded by Adam Seitz and Eric Buresh, it’s the Kansas City market’s first law firm dedidacted solely to IP and related casework.
6201 College Blbd., Overland Park, KS 66211
913.777.5600, Fax: 913.777.5601, www.eriseip.com
Adam Seitz, Co-Founder
Year Established: 2012
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 14 Partners in KC Area: 7
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 14 Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Intellectual Property
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
Led by a pair of former federal prosecutors, Graves Garrett represents clients nationwide, both businesses and individuals, in commercial and white-collar litigation. It also deals with issues of regulatory compliance and internal investigations, free-speech cases and election-law issues.
1100 Main St., Suite 2700, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.256.3181, Fax: 816.256.5958, www.gravesgarrett.com
Todd Graves/Nathan Garrett, Co-Founders
Year Established: 1974
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 14 Partners in KC Area: 7
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 14 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: White collar criminal defense, commercial & business litigation, free speech & election law, corporate compliance, whistleblower & false claims act, internal investigations.
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Brown & Ruprecht is a business executive’s firm, with practice areas that include commercial transactions, employment law, tax law, employee benefits, real estate law and creditor’s rights law. The firm also has expertise in family law, estate planning and white-collar criminal defense, and in addition to litigation, offers alternative dispute and mediation services.
911 Main St., Suite 2300, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.292.7000, www.brlawkc.com
Steven Ruprecht, Partner
Year Established: 1975
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 13 Partners in KC Area: 10
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 13 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Business law & litigation, family law, mediation, estate planning, labor law, professional liability, white-collar criminal defense
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
For more than 40 years, Shawnee-based Evans and Mullinix has provided guidance in business and financial services law, real-estate law, family law and other services. In addition, the regional firm’s lawyers handle bankruptcy cases and provide estate planning, as well as litigation services. The firm was founded in 1974 by Tim Evans and Tom Mullinix, both of whom are still practicing there.
7225 Renner Road, Suite 200, Shawnee, KS 66217
913.962.8700, www.emlawkc.com
Richard Wallace, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1974
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 13 Partners in KC Area: 9
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 13 Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Bankruptcy and business law, estate planning/probate, family law, real estate, tax law, litigation
Company Headquarters: Shawnee, Kan.
