MoveMakers & NewsMakers for Jan. 22, 2020

St. Louis | Kansas City | Springfield

St. Louis Area

Danna McKitrick, PC is pleased to announce that Rachel A. Quinley has joined the firm as an estate planning and probate lawyer. Quinley assists her clients with the creation and administration of trusts and estates, wills, beneficiary deeds, financial and medical powers of attorney, and other matters related to estate planning.

Quinley earned her J.D. degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law-Yeshiva University (2009). She is a graduate of Webster University with a B.A. in political science (2006). She is admitted to practice in both Missouri and Illinois, along with U.S. District Courts, Eastern District of Missouri and Southern District of Illinois.

Quinley is also a weekly volunteer reader and book giver for Ready Readers, whose goal is to advance literacy for preschool-age children in low-income communities and to inspire a lifelong love of reading in children.
 

Michael D. Hart has joined the Mediator and Senior Arbitrator Panels of United States Arbitration & Mediation (USA&M), the leading provider of mediation and arbitration services.
 

The St. Louis plaintiff litigation firm of Gray, Ritter & Graham, PC, has named Kaitlin A. Bridges a principal in the firm.

Bridges’ primary areas of practice are consumer class actions, commercial litigation, and mass torts. She was named a 2012 “Up and Coming Lawyer” by Missouri Lawyers Weekly. She was also the 2015 recipient of BAMSL’s John C. Shepherd Professionalism Award and the 2008 recipient of the “Leader of Tomorrow Award” at the St. Louis Daily Record Women’s Justice Awards.

Bridges is a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law, where she graduated with honors (cum laude and Order of the Coif) and served as Managing Editor of the Missouri Law Review. She also received the William H. Howard Legal Research and Writing Award.
 

Baty Otto Coronado announces that Erica Briscoe is a newly-elected partner of the firm. She joined the firm in August 2013. Briscoe is a civil litigator practicing in the areas of construction, complex personal injury, insurance coverage, transportation, and product liability. She regularly defends corporate entities and individuals as a property damage and personal injury lawyer.

Kansas City Area

Baty Otto Coronado PC (formerly Baty, Holm, Numrich & Otto, PC) welcomed the addition of three incoming partners on Oct. 1, 2019. Steve Coronado, Mark Katz, and Chris Heigele, all members of Coronado Katz LLC, joined the firm’s Kansas City office. With the addition of them and their staff, the firm changed its name to Baty Otto Coronado PC. Coronado will serve on the newly named firm’s executive committee, along with partners Lee Baty and Theresa Otto.

Subsequently, Paul Gordon joined the firm in January 2020 as a partner, and Kevin Miller and Lauren Nichols were hired in late 2019 as associates. They all practice from the firm’s Kansas City office.

The firm also announced that it promoted Elizabeth Murray from its Kansas City office to partner, effective Jan. 1, 2020.

“Baty Otto Coronado continues a long, distinguished history of defending corporations, including product manufacturers; construction and trucking companies; public entities; insurers; and individuals in civil litigation,” said Lee Baty. “With Steve, Mark, and Chris on board, the firm’s partners provide its clients with more than 100 years of dispute resolution and trial experience. We also are honored to welcome new lawyers to the firm, and we proudly recognize the accomplishments of our newly promoted partners, all of whom have demonstrated excellence as litigators and who embrace the firm’s tradition of providing high-quality representation in civil litigation defense matters to a wide range of corporations.”

“Together, we will continue to offer exemplary client service, recruit talented and diverse professionals to our team, and deliver on our mission to provide ever greater efficiency and value in the cases we litigate,” said Theresa Otto. Steve Coronado concurred. “We are of one mind,” he said, “in every way that matters.”

A Kansas City native, Steve Coronado is an experienced civil litigator practicing in general personal injury law, governmental entity liability, retail and hospitality liability, products liability, construction law, truck accident law, nursing home liability, and commercial law. His legal career spans more than 30 years; he has and continues to be involved in local and national legal organizations.

Paul Gordon is an experienced civil trial lawyer, having tried cases in federal and state courts in Missouri and Kansas. He represents clients who are involved in cases arising from claims related to governmental liability, construction defect, wrongful death, products liability, employment discrimination, breach of contract, trucking accidents, and premises liability. He serves on the Steering Committee of DRI, a leading organization of defense attorneys and in-house counsel. He also chairs the Governmental Liability Committee of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and has been a featured speaker at multiple legal conferences nationwide.

Chris Heigele is a lifelong Kansas City resident. After working in a plaintiff’s litigation firm, gaining valuable trial and appellate experience, he shifted his focus more than 20 years ago to a defense-oriented practice. He defends government and law enforcement entities in civil rights law and other liability claims and corporations and manufacturers in products liability claims; he also practices in the areas of nursing home litigation, construction law, and general commercial liability insurance defense.

Mark Katz defends a broad range of clients in a variety of cases, from manufacturers and distributors in fire and explosion cases to government entities and their employees in constitutional law matters and statutory claims. He works with clients to develop and implement plans for risk management not only from exposure to monetary damages but from the reputational damage that can result in cases that attract negative publicity. After a short time with a commercial litigation law firm, Katz joined the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office as an assistant prosecutor where he charged and tried felony cases and counseled the grand jury.

Kevin Miller defends clients in personal injury litigation and claims arising from trucking accidents and defective construction. He graduated magna cum laude from Washburn University School of Law. While at Washburn, he served as the executive and technical editor of the Washburn Law Journal. Miller received his undergraduate degree from Benedictine College. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Stephen D. Hill on the Kansas Court of Appeals for two years.

Elizabeth Murray joined Baty Otto Coronado in January 2014. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation and business law, complex personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, and insurance coverage litigation. She also practices as a nursing home and medical malpractice lawyer. Murray has experience representing clients in state and federal courts. Her broad background in litigation offers versatility and significant trial experience to firm clients. She has represented clients in matters involving business disputes, securities litigation, defense of financial institutions, and free speech law. As a state and federal prosecutor, she presented cases to grand juries, argued before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and participated in several jury trials in Missouri circuit courts and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Lauren Nichols joined Baty Otto Coronado after earning her J.D. with Distinction from the University of Nebraska College of Law. While in law school, she clerked for a law firm in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she assisted with various personal injury and insurance defense matters. Nichols received her undergraduate degree in risk management and insurance and her MBA from Missouri State University.

Springfield Area

Baty Otto Coronado announces that Andrew Donelan is a newly-elected partner of the firm. He joined the firm in August 2015 as a civil litigator. He practices in the areas of commercial law, complex personal injury law, medical malpractice, employment discrimination, and civil rights claims. Donelan has successfully represented businesses, insurance companies, and individuals in cases involving severe and catastrophic injuries. He is also experienced in defending cases involving allegations of corporate or professional negligence.