Stephen M. Gorny – Founding member of Gorny Dandurand

Email: steve@gornylawfirm.com

Stephen M. Gorny Steve Gorny is the founding member of Gorny Dandurand. He graduated magna cum laude from the Washburn University School of Law in 1994, where he served as an Editor for the Washburn Law Journal. Prior to attending law school, he earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and sociology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Throughout his career, Steve’s trial work has brought about unprecedented results. In 2002, Steve’s client was awarded the largest medical negligence verdict in Cole County, Missouri. In 2006, Steve and a former partner obtained the seventh largest trial verdict in the United States, and the largest non-punitive wrongful death verdict in Missouri history. In 2018, he obtained the largest, and perhaps only, plaintiff’s verdict in Ford County, Kansas. In 2021, Steve represented a young boy severely injured at a daycare and secured a verdict on his behalf in excess of $41,000,000, which is believed to be the largest single-plaintiff verdict in the history of Kansas. In 2022, Steve obtained verdicts for clients injured by physicians in Shawnee County, Kansas ($1,035,000), Wyandotte County, Kansas ($4,000,000), and Jackson County, Missouri ($749,000).

For ten years, Steve served on the Executive Committee of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys and was its President in 2018-2019. He is a member of AAJ’s Interstate Trucking Litigation Group and served on the advisory board of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys. He continues to be active in both organizations.

He is a member of the Missouri Bar, The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, The Kansas Bar Association, and The Kansas Trial Lawyers Association. Recently, Steve was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates – an organization reserved for those attorneys who have considerable experience in trial and arbitration. In 2025, Steve became the Membership Chair of the local chapter of ABOTA.

Steve has been selected to the prestigious Best Lawyers in America every year since 2009. He has been selected as a Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyer every year since 2006. The National Trial Lawyers Association has designated Steve a Top 100 Trial Lawyer as well as a Top 25 Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyer. He has been selected to the Nation’s Top One Percent by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum of which fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members. In 2023, the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys bestowed upon Steve its highest honor, The Thomas G. Strong Trial Attorney Award.

Steve is a former Executive Committee member and former President of the Mid-America Chapter of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A life-long runner, Steve ran numerous marathons and ultra-marathons in support of charitable causes. Throughout 2006, he ran one 26.2-mile marathon each month to raise more than $35,000 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In 2009, he completed a 100-mile ultra-marathon to benefit The LLS in honor of a family friend battling the disease. In 2012, he ran across the State of Kansas, a total of 234.7 miles, to raise more than $85,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in honor of his father who suffered from the disease.

Speeches and Presentations

2019 Tort Reform Legislation; MATA & MODL Perspectives, MATA
Changing the Language, ATAA
Choosing the Right Expert, UMKC
Civil Litigation in the Era of COVID-19, MATA
Closing Argument in Trucking Litigation, MATA
Commercial Vehicle Turning Collisions, ATAA
Conspicuity in Trucking Cases, Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys
Conspicuity in Trucking Cases, ATAA
Cost Effective Marketing for Small Firms, TAOS Group Business Retreat
Deposing the Records Custodian, AAJ
Discovery Practice, Johnson County Bar Association
Ethical Pitfalls: Learning From Mistakes, KCMBA
Expert Approaches in Tobacco Litigation, American Association for Justice
Fan Appreciation: Referring Lawyers, TAOS Group Business Retreat
Financial Decisions in Small Practice, TAOS Group Business Retreat
Finding False Medical Chart Entries, Rockhurst University Nursing School
Hours of Service: Commercial Drivers, AAJ Trucking Litigation Group
How Jurors Deliberate, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
How Truck Collisions Differ from Vehicle Crashes, Johnson County Bar Association
Is the Roadway to Blame?
Is the Roadway to Blame?, Auto Crash Litigation
Knowing Your Adversary: What the Defense is Doing Before and After the Truck Crash, AAJ Trucking Litigation Group
Lessons Learned from Starting a New Firm, KCMBA
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society National Convention Address
Make their Safety Director Your Best Witness, AAJ Trucking Litigation Group
Managing the Stress of Running a Small Firm, TAOS Group Business Retreat
Mock Closing Argument, Missouri Bar Association
More than a Punchline: A Lawyer’s Worth, Kansas City Business Association
New Senate & Congress in Place – Time to Take Action, MATA
Pain & Suffering Testimony from Family Members, Melvin Belli Society
Potential Trial Problems & Issues – Complex Litigation (Advanced Trial Skills), Missouri Office of State Courts
Proper Lane Change: Establishing Liability in Lane Change Collisions, ATAA
Proper Lane Change: Establishing Liability in Lane Change Collisions, ATAA
Punitive Damages for Not Retaining Documents, ATAA
Punitive Damages Permitted Based Upon Failure to Maintain Documents Required by FMCSR, Article for AAJ TLG Journal of Trucking Litigation
Recounting Defense Detours, AAJ
Referral & Associated Counsel Fees, MATA & Johnson County Bar Association
Rerouting Defense Detours, AAJ Trucking Litigation Group
Selecting and Utilizing Trucking Experts, AAJ Trucking Litigation Group
Selecting and Utilizing Trucking Experts, ATAA
Technology in Trucking Litigation, AAJ Trucking Litigation Group
Telematics & ECM Data, ATAA
The Art of the Decline Letter, TAOS Group Business Retreat
The Ethical Rules of Referral Fees, KCMBA
The Search for Insurance, MATA
Think Before You Speak, Arkansas Trial Lawyers
Virtual Mediation During a Pandemic, MATA
Voir Dire Carried Throughout the Case, Michigan Attorneys for Justice
What Judges Expect from Lawyers, Johnson County Bar Association
What Lawyers Want From Judges, Missouri Judicial Conference
What the Defense is Up To, Missouri Bar Association
What You Say Can be Used Against You: Inconsistent Statements, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys
When the Chips are Down: Practicing in a Depressed Economy, MATA
Words Matter, ATAA

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