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There are national, even global firms, that have a footprint in KC and more attorneys firm-wide, but no firm has more lawyers working in this city than Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Once again, SH&B tops Ingram’s ranking, though it’s getting a run for the title from some competitors. Still, the firm with a global reputation for product-lia-bility defense continues to assert its place in the Kansas City and national legal marketplaces. Among developments over just the past year:
John Murphy, Chairman & Managing Partner
Year Established: 1889
Revenue for 2013: $308,000,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 281
Partners in KC Area: 128
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 441
Number of Offices: 11
Primary Areas of Practice: Product liability, IP, business litigation, data privacy & security
Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
For each of the past six years, Polsinelli, P.C. has been named the fastest-growing law firm in America. So sayeth The American Lawyer, the venerable New York publication that makes a point of knowing these things. Were that growth concentrated inb KC, the firm would be the region’s largest, but Polsinelli has a broader national footprint, and that is what has driven growth of its overall size.
Within that growth, the health-care practice is shining. Modern Healthcare’s national rankings of Health Care Practices for 2014 pegged Polsinelli as No. 3 nationwide, thanks to more client demand, particularly with issues related to health information, data management and security and complex reimbursement.
The firm has bolstered this practice area with skilled professionals who have served as in-house counsel with national health-care providers, federal offices including the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services and the Office of Inspector General, and leadership from the American Hospital Association and American Health Lawyers Association.
Health care may be hot, but the firm is growing in other ways, too. Since last year, it has added legal firepower in such areas as real-estate and realty finance, commercial litigation, intellectual property, employee benefits and national government contracts; it doubled its West Coast presence and open-
ed an office in San Francisco. The firm has also been a big backer of the emerging innovation infrastructure in Kansas City, providing support service to Silicon Prairie, an organization that serves tech-company interests, and by inviting emerging and venture-ready clean tech companies to compete in its sixth annual Polsinelli Innovation Competition.
The growth in numbers of attorneys pushed Polsinelli to No. 43 nationwide on this year’s Law360 list.
The firm was founded in 1972 with three attorneys, including its current namesake, Jim Polsinelli. Today, it has 19 offices (including operations on both sides of the state line) and 170 service and industry practice areas. And last fall, it moved its offices a few blocks west, into new headquarters in the Plaza Vista development, which salvaged the failed West Edge project on 48th Street.
Russ Welsh, Chairman
Year Established: 1972
Revenue for 2013: $324,529,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 265
Partners in KC Area: 141
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 637
Number of Offices: 18
Primary Areas of Practice: Real estate, business, tax and estate planning, litigation
Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
This has been a year of dramatic change at the third-largest firm in the metropolitan area—in almost every way you can think of, save for numbers of local attorneys. What had been Stinson Morrison Hecker merged with the Minneapolis firm Leonard Street Deinard effective Jan. 1, becoming Stinson Leonard Street. The merged firm has 525 lawyers in 14 cities, with nearly a third of them, 170, based in Kansas City.
The firm’s legal services include corporate finance, banking and financial services; energy, environment, mining and natural resources; real estate and construction; and litigation.
In notable cases this past year, the firm:
Mark Hinderks, KC Managing Partner
Year Established: 1878
Revenue for 2013: $155,385,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 170
Partners in KC Area: 109
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 525
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.
How many law firms can boast that a premier client has been with them every step of the way for 141 years? Lathrop & Gage can: The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was the firm’s first client, and is still on the client roster today as BNSF Railway.
One of the biggest and oldest law firms in Kansas City, Lathrop & Gage was founded in 1873. Now 170 lawyers strong, with 125 other professionals supporting their efforts,
the firm has 16 practice areas and litigation services, and works in the fields of financial services, business law, construction and environmental law, health care, product liability, medical malpractice and personal injury, and tax and real estate law. Among the industries served are agribusiness, life sciences, technology, education, health care and transportation.
Over the past year, developments at the firm included:
Mark Bluhm, CEO
Year Established: 1873
Revenue for 2013: $145,258,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 170
Partners in KC Area: 109
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 314
Number of Offices: 11
Primary Areas of Practice: Business law, employment law and benefits, environmental and health care law, IP, real estate and tax services, tort, wealth strategies, litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Law firms do more than serve businesses that thrive on innovation; they can demonstrate some of that quality themselves. Nowhere has that been more evident in recent years perhaps than at Husch Blackwell, which made the move several years ago to eliminate traditional practice groups altogether. This wasn’t quite an apostasy in admin circles, but it certainly gets the attention of others in that sector.
Instead, the firm has lawyers grouped on the service industry they specialize in, and has defined six industry groups that will be made up of teams with skills in corporate, IP and employment law, as well as litigation. Those sectors are energy and natural resources; financial services; food and agribusiness; health care, life sciences and pharmaceuticals; real estate, development and construction; and technology, manufacturing and transportation. Each group contains a cross section of attorneys from various disciplines within the firm, including corporate, intellectual property, litigation, and labor and employment.
The firm has offices in six states, covering 15 cities, including the nation’s capital, and in London. It attained its present structure in 2008, with the merger of St. Louis-based Husch & Eppenberger and Kansas City’s Blackwell Sanders. That immediately created one of the nation’s Top 100 firms, based on revenues.
More recently, the firm has been recognized:
Maurice Watson, Chairman; Jeff Simon, KC Managing Partner
Year Established: 1916
Revenue for 2013: $302,058,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 132 Partners in KC Area: 85
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 514 Number of Offices: 15
Primary Areas of Practice: Energy, financial services, food and agri-business, health care, industrial production, real estate and technology
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo. and St. Louis, Mo.
A leading firm in business and litigation, Bryan Cave has global reach with a diverse client base, including businesses, financial institutions and not-for-profit organizations, government entities and individual clients. It has more than 1,100 lawyers and consulting professionals in 24 offices worldwide.
1200 Main St., Suite 3500, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.374.3200, Fax: 816.374.3300, www.bryancave.com
Perry Brandt, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1988
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 77
Partners in KC Area: 28
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 1,068
Number of Offices: 26
Primary Areas of Practice: Commercial litigation, bankruptcy, labor and employment, lending and business finance, life sciences, m&a,
public finance, real estate, securities, trust and estates
Company Headquarters: St. Louis, Mo.
In the sweet spot between super-size and boutique firms, Spencer Fane Britt & Browne is a full-service firm that handles trial and appellate work in state, federal, and bankruptcy courts throughout the country. It operates in a broad range of legal concentrations.
1000 Walnut St., Suite 1400, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.474.8100, Fax: 816.474.3216, www.spencerfane.com
Patrick Whalen, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1952
Revenue for 2013: $43,330,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 71
Partners in KC Area: 42
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: DD
Number of Offices: 6
Primary Areas of Practice: Bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, corporate, employee benefits, environmental, estate planning, financial services,
governmental affairs, health care, IP, litigation and dispute resolution
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
The global firm Dentons traces its American lineage to 1906, with the founding of what would eventually become Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal. That firm merged in 2010 with a London-based firm that dates to colonial times. Now flying the banner of Dentons, the firm is now one of the world’s 10 largest, with offices in 79 cities in 52 countries around the world.
4520 Main St., Suite 1100, Kansas City, MO 64111
816.460.2400, Fax: 816.531.7545, www.dentons.com
John Snyder, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1994
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 53
Partners in KC Area: 27
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 2,600
Number of Offices: 79
Primary Areas of Practice: Corp., litigation, real estate, IP/tech., labor law, insur. regulatory, energy and utility, tax, healthcare, white collar and government investigations
Company Headquarters: The firm operates without a headquarters structure.
Serving sectors in construction, equipment dealerships and associations, health care, restaurant and hospitality, sports and entertainment, trucking companies and dealers, the firm has 17 key practice areas. Though a mid-size firm, it represents several prominent organizations in this market: Chiefs , Applebee’s, United Way, Helzberg Diamonds, Merrill Lynch, H&R Block and J.E. Dunn Construction Group.
911 Main St., Suite 2800, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.421.4460, Fax: 816.474.3447, www.seigfreidbingham.com
Steve Kyle, CEO, effective Oct. 1, 2014
Year Established: 1974
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 43
Partners in KC Area: 24
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.
With practice groups covering business, health and worker’s compensation, as well as litigation services in professional and product liability, insurance and criminal law, Wallace Saunders has amassed a team of more than 50 lawyers practicing across the two-state region. Since its founding in 1963, the firm has grown to cover KC, Overland Park as well as Springfield, Mo., and Wichita, Kan.
10111 W. 87th St.., Overland Park, KS 66212
913.888.1000, Fax: 913.888.1065, www.wallacesaunders.com
Karl Kuckelman, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1963
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 39
Partners in KC Area: 26
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 56
Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation, insurance, professional liability, construction and design, transportation and trucking, employment, product liability.
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan..
Kutak Rock operates offices in 11 states and the nation’s capital. The firm now has 436 lawyers primarily practicing business and corporate law, public finance, litigation and real estate law. Clients include Fortune 500 corporations and investment banking and major money-center banks in the U.S., Europe and Asia, insurance companies, national real estate investors and developers, national franchising enterprises and other financial institutions and businesses.
1010 Grand Blvd., Suite 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: 38
Partners in KC Area: 25
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 436
Number of Offices: 17
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation, real estate, public and corporate finance, health care, corporate tax, securities/tax credit, intellectual property/tech, automotive finance
Company Headquarters: Omaha, Neb.
McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips has assisted a range of clients—for-profit, not-for-profit and government—for individuals, small businesses and Fortune 500, and real estate law, financial institution law, litigation, and not-for-profit law. MVP practices in six states: Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska.
10 E. Cambridge Circle Dr., Suite 300, Kansas City, KS 66103
913.371.3838, Fax: 913.371.4722, www.mvplaw.com
Fred Greenbaum, President
Year Established: 1901
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 36
Partners in KC Area: 29
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 55
Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Business, banking/finance, labor law, litigation, education, govt/municipalities, real estate, professional liability, personal and product liability, transportation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Kan.
McDowell, Rice, Smith & Buchanan is known for its skills in commercial transactions, bankruptcy and financial restructuring, and business law. Its expertise covers two dozen practice areas, including real-estate transactions, contracts, commercial construction, tax and estate planning, employment and labor law, and family law. The firm’s staff of lawyers works from offices in KC, Overland Park and Springfield.
605 W. 47th St., Suite 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: 33
Partners in KC Area: 20
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 33
Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Civil and complex litigation, bankruptcy, debtor and creditor rights, real estate, estate planning, employment, malpractice, business, family law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Gilmore & Bell has a strong track record as a national leader in the art of public-finance transactions; last year, it was No. 1 in the nation in numbers of issues as bond counsel, and 12th in dollar volume. Based in KC, it has offices in Wichita and St. Louis, as well as Omaha and Lincoln, Neb. Its clients are primarily states, counties, cities, school districts and governmental entities..
2405 Grand Blvd., Suite 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: 32
Partners in KC Area: 25
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 51
Number of Offices: 5
Primary Areas of Practice: Public-finance, bond counsel or underwriter’s counsel, tax-exempt financings, commercial-corporate finance and securities law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Foland, Wickens, Eisfelder, Roper & Hofer is a premier civil litigation firm, handling large and complex cases for individuals and businesses. Its litigation services cover such areas as commercial and business law, construction, employment law, financial services, health care and insurance law, product and professional liability, transportation law and worker’s compensation. The firm also offers mediation and arbitration services, as well as alternative dispute resolution.
911 Main St., 30th Floor, 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: 30
Partners in KC Area: 7
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 30
Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
The trial lawyers at Berkowitz Oliver Williams Shaw & Eisenbrandt bring considerable experience to their tasks in state and federal courts and appellate courts across the nation. With expertise in a dozen practice areas, they also serve clients in state and federal administrative hearings, FINRA and AAA arbitrations, and court-ordered and private mediation proceedings.
2600 Grand Blvd., Suite 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: 21
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 29
Number of Offices: 2
Practice Areas: Accounting and prof. liability, class-action defense, commercial litigation, mass tort/toxic tort, creditor rights, employment, franchise and IP law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Litigation defense—from medical malpractice to personal injury actions, from product liability to class-action lawsuits and more—defines the KC law firm of Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice. With more than a dozen practice areas, the firm’s client list includes companies from such diverse sectors as aerospace, auto-motive and trucking, financial services, construction, health care, pharmaceuicals and medical devices, insurance, hospitality, retail and food and beverage.
2600 Grand Blvd., Suite 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: 18
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 29
Number of Offices: 2
Practice Areas: Accounting and prof. liability, class-action defense, commercial litigation, mass tort/toxic tort, creditor rights, employment, franchise and IP law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Arbitration, mediation and negotiation are starting points, but when a case must go to litigation, Wagstaff & Cartmell is considered a leading firm for its acumen in complex commercial cases, lawsuits involving drugs and medical devices, environmental/exposures cases, instances of medical, product or professional liability and trucking accidents. The firm also provides defense counsel for complex criminal litigation, white-collar crime and corporate criminal investigations.
4740 Grand Ave., 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: 28
Partners in KC Area: 19
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 27
Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Complex commercial litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Innovation and collaboration are foundational principles for Armstrong Teasdale, the Clayton, Mo.-based firm with offices in KC, Overland Park, Springfield, Belleville, Ill., Las Vegas, Reno and in Shanghai, China. The firm combines a strong litigation presence with a deep roster of services in business law and intellectual property law, where it operates the largest patent practice in the St. Louis region.
2345 Grand Blvd., Suite 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: 27
Partners in KC Area: 22
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 247
Number of Offices: 8
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation, employment and labor, intellectual property, franchise, public finance, corporate services, real estate
Company Headquarters: St. Louis, Mo.
A strong client base of insurance companies—more than 50 brokers, in all—anchors a key segment of the workload at Sanders Warren & Russell, but insurance law is by no means all this Overland Park firm does. Its staff practices across a broad array of 15 business-law specialties, from construction law to product liability, tax planning to intellectual property and more. Founded in 1999, the firm also has offices in south Kansas City and Springfield, Mo.
9401 Indian Creek Pkwy., Suite 1250, Overland Park, KS 66210
913.234.6100, Fax: 913.234.6199, www.swrllp.com
William Sanders, Jr., Roger Warren, Bradley Russell, Management Committee
Year Established: 1999
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 27
Partners in KC Area: 21
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 30
Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation and corporate law
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
For more than 100 years, St. Louis-based Lewis, Rice & Fingersh has served individuals, as well as business clients ranging from small companies to national firms. It offers services to companies in the financial services, manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, publishing, broadcasting, health care and insurance sectors. It also has a strong concentration on real estate law, where its lawyers work with municipal governments, brokers and developers.
1010 Walnut St., Suite 500, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.421.2500, Fax: 816.472.2500, www.lewisrice.com
Bill Carr, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1948
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 26
Partners in KC Area: 15
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 159
Number of Offices: 7
Primary Areas of Practice: Real estate, business, tax and estate planning, litigation
Company Headquarters: St. Louis, Mo.
Douthit Frets Rouse Gentile & Rhodes successfully navigates three areas of law. One pillar of that work involves catastrophic loss, involving things like transportation-related accidents or defective products; another is its construction, pre-paid card and commercial law practice, serving entrepreneurs, business owners and small- to mid-sized companies; and medical malpractice defense for hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals.
5250 W. 116th Place, Suite 400, 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: 26
Partners in KC Area: 11
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 26
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Catastrophic loss, commercial law, medical malpractice
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Corporate defense is the essence of what the lawyers from Franke Schultz & Mullen do. The KC firm has offices in St. Louis and Springfield and serves clients in commercial and business litigation to construction and employment law. Partners have tried more than 400 civil cases before juries. Clients include Phillips Petroleum, Shell Oil, Conoco-Phillips, Ford Motor Credit, Marriott and Domino’s Pizza.
8900 Ward Parkway, 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: 25
Partners in KC Area: 14
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 26
Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Commercial litigation, products liability, trucking and automobile litigation, construction litigation, insurance coverage
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
The industry shorthand is default-servicing, which means resolving difficult issues when a deal goes bad. That’s where South & Associates excels, offering services that cover foreclosure and bankruptcy, eviction, title resolution and loss mitigation, among others. Based in Overland Park, the firm also has offices in Wichita, St. Louis, Omaha and Des Moines, providing coverage that allows it to operate in every county of the four-state area.
6363 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66211
913.663.7600, Fax: 913.663.7899, www.southlaw.com
Alan South, Managing Attorney
Year Established: 1995
Revenue for 2013: $17,100,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 24
Partners in KC Area: 11
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 34
Number of Offices: 5
Primary Areas of Practice: Creditor’s rights
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
Founded in 1996, Rasmussen, Willis, Dickey & Moore, L.L.C. serves as trial counsel on a nationwide basis for its clients in a broad range of lawsuits, including the defense of serious product liability and personal injury claims, medical and professional malpractice, commercial disputes, and employment and construction law cases.
9200 Ward Parkway, Suite 400, Kansas City, MO 64114
816.960.1611, Fax: 816.960.1669, www.rwdmlaw.com
Dyanna Ballou, CEO
Year Established: 1996
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 23
Partners in KC Area: 12
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 27
Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Product liability, professional liability, commercial litigation, insurance defense.
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
From business disputes involving large companies to consumer and securities fraud, personal injury and whistleblower protection, the lawyers at Stueve Siegel Hanson have secured hundreds of millions of dollars for their clients. It produces favorable settlements or awards large multinational concerns, like Seaboard Corp., as well as individuals in David-vs.-Goliath legal battles against big firms.
460 Nichols Road, Suite 200, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.714.7100, Fax: 816.714.7101, www.stuevesiegel.com
Patrick Stueve, Norman Siegel, George Hanson
Year Established: 2001
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 23
Partners in KC Area: 9
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 28
Number of Offices: 2
Practice Areas: Antitrust/breach of contract/IP/franchise disputes/fraud and misrepresentation/RICO violations); consumer fraud; securities fraud; personal injury
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Within the vital real-estate development arena, White Goss Bowers March Schulte & Weisenfels focuses on land use, economic-development incentives and real estate development and transactions. The firm, based in KC, also sports a strong suite of services for business litigation, conflict resolution, mergers and acquisitions, employment law and white collar criminal litigation. Among its clients are local firms like Kansas City Life, Commerce Bank, Waddell & Reed and Freightquote.
4510 Belleview, Suite 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: 22
Partners in KC Area: 12
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 24
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Land use, zoning, real estate, corporate, litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Headquartered in Wichita, where it’s one of the biggest firms in the state’s biggest city, Foulston Siefkin covers the waterfront with nearly 50 practice areas, the vast majority of which fall under the broad category of business law. Consequently, it has a diverse client base—from individuals and emerging businesses to Fortune 500 companies—in sectors vital to the Kansas economy: aerospace, agribusiness, construction, energy, education, financial services, health care, manufacturing, retail, real estate, and technology sectors.
1551 N. Waterfront Parkway, Suite 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: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 88
Number of Offices: 5
Primary Areas of Practice: Full-service business law firm
Company Headquarters: Wichita, Kan.
Patents, Trademarks and All Things IP are the stock in trade for this Overland Park firm founded nearly 85 years ago. Copyright law, trade secrets and intellectual property litigation are also key services available to clients. The firm’s strong embrace of entrepreneurship runs to its founders, who hung up the shingle just weeks before the stock market crash of 1929 but none-theless managed the firm’s rise throughout the Great Depression.
10801 Mastin St., Suite 1000, Overland Park, KS 66210
913.647.9050, Fax: 913.647.9057, www.hoveywilliams.com
Management Committee
Year Established: 1929
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 21
Partners in KC Area: 8
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 24
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Intellectual property
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
Payne & Jones is among the larger full-service Kansas law firms operating in Johnson County, and its impressive roster of practice areas shows that’s not an idle boast: Nearly 50 aspects of business, family and criminal law offer strong assurances that individual or corporate clients will find what they need to meet their legal challenges. Its broad areas of practice include business law, family law and estate planning, litigation and personal injury cases, and real-estate law.
11000 King, Overland Park, KS 66211
913.469.4100 , Fax: 913.469.8182, www.paynejones.com
Jodee Olson Lanning, Managing Officer
Year Established: 1926
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 21
Partners in KC Area: 16
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 22
Number of Offices: 1
Practice Areas: Civil litigation; business; estates, trusts and probate, domestic
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, Kan.
Dysart Taylor serves a broad caseload in business law. It handles cases involving transportation, financial services, construction, insurance, labor law, intellectual property, tax law and real estate law, but also works in appellate law and in arbitration and mediation.
4420 Madison Ave., Suite 200, Kansas City, MO 64111
816.931.2700, Fax: 816.931.7377, www.dysarttaylor.com
John Wilcox, Managing Director
Year Established: 1934
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 21
Partners in KC Area: 15
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 21
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Aviation; business & corporate; commercial and bankruptcy; construction; estate planning and probate; tax, insurance and IP law, labor law, litigation and dispute resolution; product liability, transportation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
One of Topeka’s oldest and largest firms, Fisher Patterson Sayler & Smith has evol-ved from a general practice firm to offer a robust lineup of business-law expertise.
It handles financial services and civil rights cases, bankruptcies, construction litigation, government liability, medical malpractice, product and professional liability, insurance law and deals in real-estate and zoning law, among others.
3550 S.W. Fifth 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: 20
Partners in KC Area: 12
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 20
Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Insurance defense litigation, governmental liability defense, employment and civil rights litigation, medical malpractice defense
Company Headquarters: Topeka, Kan.
Headquartered in Kansas City, with an office in Omaha, Morrow Willnauer Klosterman Church is more than a regional firm; it also represents clients nationwide—whether they’re companies, local governments or individuals—with services in civil litigation, workers’ compensation and corporate law.
The firm’s member lawyers have taken part in more than 150 jury trials.
10401 Holmes, Suite 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.
34 Blake & Uhlig
Labor law defines the practice of Blake & Uhlig, where the caseload reflects the firm’s commitment to advancing and protecting labor rights. That means representing labor organizations governed by the National Labor Relations Act and public-sector labor laws, with services that include work in federal and state courts, in arbitration and before government agencies that form a rich brew of alphabet soup: NLRA, FAA, FLSA, OSHA, WARN, LMRDA, UAA, ADA, ADEA and Title VII. The firm also provides guidance on internal governance for union clients.
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: 20
Partners in KC Area: 7
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 20
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Labor law and employee benefits
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Kan.
Key members of Horn Aylward & Bandy started their firm in 1999. The KC firm has 19 lawyers and five paralegals working in nine practice areas, with a heavy emphasis on litigation. Their primary focus areas are civil and business litigation, class-action cases, employment law and insurance defense, medical malpractice cases and actions involving nursing homes and long-term care providers, product and professional liability, construction, transportation and health-care law.
2600 Grand Blvd., Suite 1100, Kansas City, MO 64108
816.421.0700, Fax: 816.421.0899, www.hab-law.com
Management Committee
Year Established: 1999
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 19
Partners in KC Area: 12
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 19
Number of Offices: 1
Practice Areas: Civil, business litigation, class-action, business and insurance law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Humphrey Farrington McClain has been involved in some of the biggest insurance settlements and jury-delivered damage awards in Missouri history, and handles a wide range of personal-injury cases as well as a business
law caseload.
221 W. Lexington Ave #400, Independence, MO 64050
816.836.5050, Fax: 816.836.8966, www.hfmlegal.com
Rachelle Johnson, Office Manager
Year Established: 1984
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 19
Partners in KC Area: 10
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 19
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Personal injury settlements and litigation;
business law, sex-abuse litigation, trusts and estates
Company Headquarters: Independence, Mo.
Litigation expertise defines the staff at Baty Holm Numrich & Otto, which specializes in civil litigation, cases involving workers’ compensation claims, and general business law. Within those broad areas, its staff will deal with claims involving personal injury, professional liability, or construction defects, employment law, product liability and more. Headquartered in Kansas City,
the firm also has offices in suburban St. Louis and Springfield and in Shawnee.
4600 Madison Ave., Suite 210, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.531.7200, Fax: 816.531.7201, www.batyholm.com
Lee Baty, Managing Partner
Year Established: 1929
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 19
Partners in KC Area: 9
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 19
Number of Offices: 4
Primary Areas of Practice: Civil litigation, workers compensation, business law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Since its founding in 1991, the firm of Walters, Bender, Strohbehn & Vaughan has been represented clients in hundreds of jury trials, bench trials and arbitrations across the country. The trial practice runs broad and deep, covering class actions, securities litigation, premises and product liability, anti-trust violations, insurance law, personal injury, construction law, complex trust litigation, patent and copyright litigation, and medical and professional negligence.
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 services
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Launched in 1936 after a Houston-based firm pulled out of the KC market, Slagle, Bernard & Gorman is a full-service personal, business and litigation firm. The business practice areas include corporate law, business formation, estate planning, partnerships, finance, acquisitions/dispositions, securities, real estate, tax exempt organizations, pension and profit-sharing and employee benefits. The litigation side is experienced in construction, contract disputes, antitrust, securities law, corporate officer and director liability, bankruptcy, employment, federal and state tax litigation.
4600 Madison Ave., Suite 600, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.410.4600, Fax: 816.561.4498, www.sbg-law.com
Year Established: 1936
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 18
Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 18
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Full-service personal, business and litigation firm
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
One of KC’s oldest law firms, Swanson Midgley was founded in 1886 and has found a formula for success by excelling in business law, estate planning and litigation. The business law practice encompasses a wide range of concentrations: banking and finance, corporate finance, real estate and tax and intellectual property law. It supports those areas with a robust litigation section that covers 20 specialties.
4600 Madison Ave., Suite 1100, Kansas City, MO 64112
816.842.6100, Fax: 816.842.0013, www.swansonmidgley.com
Daniel V. Hiatt, Sr. Managing Member
Year Established: 1886
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 17
Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 17
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Bankruptcy, corporate, estate planning, domestic, commercial litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Dunn & Davison specializes not just in the boilerplate cases of business law involving banking and financial services, bankruptcy and creditor’s rights or employment law, but in more complex cases, like those involving catastrophic loss, product liability and even railroad regulatory issues. One of the youngest of the region’s large firms—it was founded in 2009—the firm touts its mix of young innovators and experienced legal professionals.
1100 Walnut St., Suite 2900, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.292.7600, Fax: 816.292.7601, www.dunndavison.com
Brian Dunn, Jeff Davison, Managing Partners
Year Established: 2009
Revenue for 2013: $5,363,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 16
Partners in KC Area: 6
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 19
Number of Offices: 7
Primary Areas of Practice: Construction law, business transactions, banking law, ERISA, employment law, estate planning
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Financial services, construction, energy, health care, insurance, manufacturing, telecommunications—the business clients of Rouse Hendricks German May hail from those sectors and others, but the firm’s representation isn’t limited to big business. Private companies, and small start-ups are as likely to be found on the client roster as are major corporations, domestic and international, and not-for-profit organizations, whether as plaintiffs or defendants.
1201 Walnut St., 20th Floor, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.471.7700, Fax: 816.471.2221, www.rhgm.com
Kris Riddell, Office Manager
Year Established: 1992
Revenue for 2013: $7,000,000
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 16
Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 16
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Business litigation
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
A national presence in employment law, the firm of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart is based in the Southeast, co-headquartered in Atlanta and Greenville, S.C. But it maintains a strong presence in KC with its office on the Country Club Plaza. Workplace and labor issues are a staple of what the firm does, but it also has concentrations in construction law, higher education and sports and entertainment.
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: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 668
Number of Offices: 44
Primary Areas of Practice: Employment law, traditional labor relations, wage and hour, employee benefits, sports and entertainment
Company Headquarters: Greenville, S.C. & Atlanta, Ga.
With 11 practice areas, the Levy Craig Law Firm is a full-service operation that covers fundamental business-law sectors like banking, construction, real estate, M&A, but it also has staked out a presence in family law, trusts and estates, and has a significant litigation practice, as well. Now nearly 90 years old, the firm assists individuals and small and large business corporate law matters.
1301 Oak St., Suite 500, Kansas City, MO 64106
816.474.8181, Fax: 816.471.2186, www.levycraig.com
Robert Pitkin, President
Year Established: 1925
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 15
Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 15
Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Real estate, banking, surety, construction, corporate, family law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Founded in 1994, Shaffer Lombardo Shurin is a multi-specialty firm with lawyers who practice in diverse concentrations for defendants and plaintiffs alike. It handles complex litigation and individual client needs, and has been involved in cases with millions of dollars in
damages at stake.
911 Main Street, Suite 2000, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.931.0500, Fax: 816.931.5775, www.sls-law.com
Sharlyne Narr, Office Manager
Year Established: 1994
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 14
Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 14
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Litigation, administrative and business law, real estate and health-care law, estate planning services
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Large corporations and small businesses alike can be found on the client roster for Evans and Mullinix, a nearly 40-year-old Shawnee firm that deals with business and financial services law, real-estate law and family law. In addition, the firm’s lawyers handle bankruptcy cases and provide estate planning, as well as litigation services.
7225 Renner Road, Suite 200, Shawnee, KS 66217
913.962.8700, Fax: 913.962.8701, www.evans-mullinix.com
Richard Wallace, President
Year Established: 1974
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 13
Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 13
Number of Offices: 1
Practice Areas: Business, financial services, tax, real estate and family law
Company Headquarters: Shawnee, Kan.
Van Osdol & Magruder bills itself as “The Biggest Little Law Firm in Kansas City” because it tackles a wide array of business law disciplines, estate planning and probate services and work for nonprofit organizations, all with a comparatively compact staff of lawyers. Among its concentrations are entrepreneurial & IP law, family, labor and real estate law, and litigation services.
911 Main St., Suite 2400, Kansas City, MO 64105
816.421.0644, Fax: 816.421.0758, www.vomer.com
Tom Willy, President
Year Established: 1940
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 13
Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 13
Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Business, estate planning, probate, non-profit law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Just 13 lawyers strong, Simpson Logback Lynch and Norris punches well above its weight with 18 markedly varied practice areas. One area of specialization within that range is administrative law, and increasingly complex and burdensome area for small businesses in particular. But the firm also operates in financial services law, corporate and business law, construction, health care and insurance law, real estate and zoning law, to name just a few.
7400 W. 110th Street, Suite 600, Overland Park, KS 66210
913.342.2500, Fax: 913.342.0603 www.slln.com
Janet Simpson, President
Year Established: 1980
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 13 Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 13 Number of Offices: 2
Primary Areas of Practice: Administrative law,
business law, litigation.
Company Headquarters: Overland Park, KS.
49 Martin, Pringle, Oliver, Wallace & Bauer
Another Wichita-based firm, Martin Pringle, maintains a strong presence in Kansas City, with offices near the Country Club Plaza and in Overland Park.
A full-service firm—its slogan is “Yes, we do that”—Martin Pringle is a general civil, trial and appellate practice. Among its varied areas of expertise are aviation law, business and commercial law, employment law, banking, creditor’s rights, medical malpractice defense, environmental, insurance and energy law.
6900 College Blvd., Suite 700, Overland Park, KS 66211
913.491.5500, Fax: 913.491.3341, www.martinpringle.com
Scott Tschudy, Attorney/Executive Committee Member
Year Established: 1996
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 13 Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 45 Number of Offices: 3
Primary Areas of Practice: Full-service
law firm with extensive business concentrations
Company Headquarters: Wichita, Kan.
Varied practice areas, including business litigation, employment law, insurance law, personal injury and product liability litigation, and real-estate and insurance law. The founding partners, all with big-firm experience, pride themselves on use of technology and their ability to control overhead costs to give clients the kind of service they might expect of the biggest firms, at affordable rates.
4050 Pennsylvania, Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64111
913.931.3500, Fax: 913.931.3553, www.schleehuber.com
David Schlee, President
Year Established: 1998
Number of Lawyers in KC Area: 13
Partners in KC Area: DD
Number of Lawyers Firm-Wide: 13
Number of Offices: 1
Primary Areas of Practice: Business, labor, real estate and insurance law, personal injury/product liability litigation, environmental law
Company Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Methodology
Ingram’s efforts to identify the largest law firms in the region start with the same in-house research that produces our annual published list of the Top 25 firms in the area, and based on end-of-year numbers of lawyers for 2013. In the event of a tie, firms were ranked by the numbers of partners. Additional research included information available from known law firms’ Web sites. We also directly contacted firms to gather their key numbers for lawyers on staff at year-end, numbers of partners and other information. While we believe it to be a comprehensive accounting of the largest firms, we can’t exclude the possibility that some firms that belong on this list aren’t included here. If so, please call us at 816.268.6402, or e-mail Editorial@Ingrams.com, so we can ensure the integrity of our 2014 update to this important roster.
