EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS


 


James E. Cooling

Education: University of Missouri (A.B.); University of Notre Dame (J.D.). Member: Board of Directors of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA); Past President of the Aviation Insurance Association; member, Legal Advisory Council for the Experimental Aircraft Association; Technical Editor, Flight Training magazine, Co-Author: "Aviation Litigation," Missouri Bar CLE Volume on Tort law: "Considerations in Auto-Pilot Litigation," 48 Journal of Air Law and Commerce 693, 1983. Law clerk to the Honorable John E. Bardgett, Supreme Court of Missouri, 1971. Member: Kansas City Metropolitan and American (Member, Aviation and Space Law Committee) Bar Associations; The Missouri Bar (Chairman: International Law Committee, 1983--); admitted to U.S. Supreme Court; Lawyers Association of Kansas City; Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association; National Transportation Safety Board Bar Association; commercial pilot and flight instructor.

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Paul V. Herbers

Education: Georgetown University (B.S.L., cum laude) (Russian and Japanese languages); University of Missouri (M.B.A., with honors); University of Missouri-Columbia (J.D.). Member, Missouri Law Review, 1976-1977. Chairman, Missouri Bar Transportation Law Committee (1997 – 2005), Member American Bar Association (Tort & Insurance Practice Section, Litigation Section, Forum on Aviation and Space Law), Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Aviation Insurance Association.  Admitted to U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court for the Western and Eastern Districts of Missouri, the District of Kansas, the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and to the Supreme Court of Missouri.  Author:  “Franchise Terminations:  Forum Selection and Choice of Law”, 48 Journal Missouri Bar 531, 1992; Trial of the Wrongful Death Case – Defense Perspective”, National Business Institute 1997; “Contractual Risks” and “Protecting Your Assets”, NBAA Risk Management Forum Orlando and Tucson 2004; co-author “Enforcement of Discovery – Sanctions”, Missouri Bar on Civil Procedure, 2004; "Aviation Litigation," Missouri Bar on Tort Law; "Consideration in Autopilot Litigation," 48 Journal of Air Law & Commerce 693, 1983; "Differential Assessment and Other Techniques to Preserve Missouri's Farmlands," 42 Missouri Law Review, 369, 1977; Author: Note, "Extra-Territorial Application of United States Securities Laws," 42 Missouri Law Review 158, 1977; Note, "Share Exchange Pursuant to a Corporate Reorganization Not a 'Purchase or Sale'," 41 Missouri Law Review 463, 1976. 

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Joe B. Whisler

Education: Southern Methodist University School of Law (J.D.) and he received a B.A. degree from Central Methodist College. He is Past-President of The Missouri Bar and is licensed to practice in Missouri and in the United States Western District of Missouri, District of Kansas and U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth and Tenth Circuits. Member: President of The Missouri Bar (2004-2005) (Member: Missouri Board of Governors – 1992-2004); Barristers; Board of Editors, Journal of Air Law and Commerce, 1971-1972, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, and Lawyers Association of Kansas City (President, Junior Section, 1977-1978). He was founder and first chairman of the Aviation Law Committee for the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri.

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James E. Ramsey

Education: U.S. Naval Academy (B.S.); University of Oregon School of Law (J.D.); U.S. Naval Test Pilot School; U.S. Naval Aviation Safety School. Member: Alaska Bar Association, Missouri Bar Association; Society of Experimental Test Pilots; Defense Research Institute (former chairman of Aerospace Law Committee). Admitted to U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits, and state and federal courts in Missouri and Alaska and federal court in Kansas.  Former U.S. Naval aviator and experimental test pilot.  Has reported Appellate decisions in Alaska and Kansas Supreme Courts and U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

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Heidi R. Albers

Education: William Jewell College (B.S./B.S. Summa Cum Laude); University of Missouri Columbia (J.D.) - President of Delta Mu Delta; published "Preliminary Injunctions of Arbitration Proceedings" in Journal of Dispute Resolution; Note and Comment Editor for Journal of Dispute Resolution. Member of the Missouri Bar, admitted to the Western District of Missouri, the Kansas Bar, the United States District Court - State of Kansas.

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Kathleen H. Breckenridge

Education: Trinity College, Washington D.C. (B.A.); Temple University (M.ed.); University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law (J.D. and LL.M. Taxation). Member of the Missouri Bar, admitted to the Western District of Missouri, the Kansas Bar and the United States District Court-State of Kansas.

 

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Lisa Holt  

Education: William Jewell College (B.S. Business Management and Accounting); University of Missouri - Kansas City Law School (J.D. and LL.M. Taxation) - Member of the Missouri Bar, licensed to practice in Missouri and Kansas; a Certified Public Accountant; member of the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants.

 

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Elizabeth Vasseur-Browne  

Education: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (B.S. Aeronautics); Hofstra University School of Law (J.D. with international law concentration). Member: The Missouri Bar; The New York Bar; admitted to United States District Courts, Western District of Missouri and the state of Kansas; Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association; National Transportation Safety Board Bar Association; National Business Aviation Association; Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association,Served in the United States Air Force and is a private pilot.

 

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Rebecca Martin  

Education: University of Texas (B.A.); University of Kansas (M.A.) Unversity of Kansas (J.D.). Member of the Missouri Bar.

 

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Jessica Pownell  

Education: University of Kansas (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, Highest Distinction, Honors); University of Kansas School of Law (J.D., Order of the Coif, Articles Editor for the Kansas Law Review). Member of the Missouri Bar.

 

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Bonjwing Lee  

Education: Northwestern University (B.S. Cum Laude); University of Michigan School of Law (J.D.). Member of Missouri and Kansas Bar. Fluent in Mandarin.

 

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Russell C. Leffel

Education: University of Kansas (B.A.; J.D.). Phi Alpha Delta. Member: Johnson County (Chairman, Program Committee, 8 terms; Member, Board of Directors, 1987-1992; President Elect, 1989-1990; President, 1990-1991), Kansas and American Bar Associations; U.S. District Court, District of Kansas; U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit; U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Not admitted in Missouri) (Resident, Shawnee Mission, Kansas Office).

 

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Administrative Team

The Administrative Team comprises paralegals, legal assistants and office support administrators with many years of legal background.  They are a vital asset to the success of our clients and our firm.

Left to Right (standing):  Brandy Ochoa, Susie Stalder, Leslie Rose, Anna McDermded, Jan Stevens, and Laura Budd,

Left to Right (seated):  Carolyn Webster and Tracy Dear

 

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