Stephen Gorny

Gorny Dandurand, LC

Stephen Gorny Personal Injury Lawyer

Gorny Dandurand, LC

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Firm Summary

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.

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