Languages

• French
• Spanish
• Tshiluba

Law Firm Overview

Lathrop & Gage’s Crown Center office is the firm’s first and largest office. Founded in 1873, we may be the oldest law firm west of the Mississippi River, but we're anything but old and stodgy in our thinking, management and culture. We're a young, aggressive firm that's nearly doubled in size in the past four years through mergers and select lateral hires. Our stability and strength today are a testament to our adaptability over the past 130 years. And while we still represent our first-ever client, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway (known then as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company; now known as BNSF Railway Company), we've represented many other clients for well over a century.

Areas of Practice

• Acquisitions, Sales, Exchanges and Leases
• Agribusiness
• Antitrust, Competition & Consumer Protection
• Appellate
• Asset Sales & Acquisitions
• Bankruptcy Litigation
• Bankruptcy, Creditors' Rights & Business Reorganization
• Bankruptcy/Creditors' Rights
• Biotechnology & Life Science
• Business Litigation
• Business Litigation Real Estate Advocacy
• Charitable Organizations
• Class Action
• Class Action/Multi-Party Suit Torts
• Collection Practice
• Commercial Litigation
• Complex Commercial
• Construction
• Construction and Design Industry
• Consumer Claim Defense
• Contaminated Real Estate
• Copyright
• Corporate & General Business
• Corporate Finance & Securities
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Transactions
• Corporate/Partnership/LLC's
• Debtor Representation
• Education
• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
• Energy & Utilities
• Enforcement & Litigation
• Environmental
• Environmental Litigation
• Equine
• Financial Institutions
• Government Contracting
• Government Relations
• Government Services
• Health Care
• Immigration
• Insurance
• Insurance Analysis & Recovery for Policyholders
• Insurance Analysis and Recovery for Policyholders
• Insurance/ERISA Defense
• Intellectual Property
• Intellectual Property Litigation
• Internet Litigation
• Labor & Employment
• Land Use, Zoning and Development
• Landlord & Tenant Disputes
• Licensing
• Licensing and Preserving Ownership of Data Rights
• Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation
• Media
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Occupational Safety
• Occupational Safety (OSHA)
• Patents
• Personal Injury/Products Liability
• Professional Liability
• Project Development, Leasing and Sale
• Public Finance
• Railroad
• Real Estate
• Real Estate Advocacy
• Receiverships
• Religious Organizations
• Risk Management
• Secured Creditor Representation
• Securities Litigation
• Solid/Hazardous Waste
• Strategic Alliances
• Superfund
• Tax
• Tax & Employee Benefits
• Tax Planning & Structuring
• Technology Transactions
• Technology Transfer and Licensing
• Telecommunications
• Tort Litigation
• Toxic Tort
• Toxic Tort Litigation
• Trade Secrets/Covenants
• Trademark
• Trademarks
• Traditional Labor
• Trucking & Freight Transportation
• Trustee Representation
• Unsecured Creditors & Committee Representation
• Waste Management
• Water Regulation
• Wealth Strategies
• White Collar Criminal Defense
• Workers' Compensation
• Workout & Restructuring

Published Works

• Ben Weinberger Speaks at Disaster Recovery Conference, 2008
• Two Lathrop & Gage Litigators Named Among Lawdragon's Top 500 Lawyers Nationwide, 2007
• Inside Counsel: Dunkin' Donuts Fights Franchisee's Discrimination Claim, 2007
• Michelle Pittman Gellis Joins Lathrop & Gage as an Associate, 2007
• Two Lathrop & Gage Attorneys Selected by Peers as “Best of the Bar”, 2007
• Lathrop & Gage Named Best Law Firm in Kansas City by Ingram's, 2007
• Lathrop & Gage Hires COO, 2007
• Bill Migneron Joins Lathrop & Gage as Chief Operating Officer, 2007
• Rebecca B. Beal Joins Lathrop & Gage as an Associate, 2007
• The Wichita Eagle: Firm claims Bombardier sold it a bad Learjet 60, 2007
• Kansas City Star: Cyberspace crime adds companies to list of victims, 2007
• Lathrop & Gage's Jerome Smith Presents Valuable Patent Law Information to Israeli Law Firms, 2007
• Rick Shearer Joins Lathrop & Gage as an Associate, 2007
• Concealed Weapons - What Kansas Businesses Should Know About the Amended Law, 2007
• Brian W. Fields Joins Lathrop & Gage as a Member, 2007
• Update on New Final IRS Regulations on Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Rules, 2007
• KCMBA Names Mike Williams Young Lawyer of the Year, 2007
• System Slowdown - Can Arbitration be Fixed?, 2007
• Lathrop & Gage Attorney Tapped as Editor for ABA Publication, 2007
• Survey: High Percentage of Americans Complain About Abusive Bosses, 2007
• Lathrop & Gage Attorney Admitted to Exclusive Legal Association, 2007
• Allison Bergman Named One of Kansas City's Influential Women, 2007

West Practice Categories

Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Antitrust Law, Banking & Finance Law, Bankruptcy Law, Bankruptcy Litigation, Business & Commercial Law, Class Actions, Collections & Repossessions, Construction Law, Consumer Protection, Contracts, Copyrights, Corporate Taxation, Creditors' Rights, Debtor/Creditor, Environmental Law, Government Agencies & Programs, Government Contracts, Health & Health Care Law, Intellectual Property Law, Labor Law, Landlord/Tenant, Limited Liability Companies, Litigation & Appeals, Non-profit & Tax-exempt Organizations, Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) -- Employee, Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) -- Employer, Other Professionals Malpractice, Real Estate Law, Reorganizations, Reorganizations & Restructuring, Taxation Law, Technology Licensing, Unfair Competition, Workouts