Attorney Profiles
Kirk T. May Kansas City, Missouri
| Shareholder and Founding Member | |
| phone | 816-471-7700 |
| fax | 816-471-2221 |
| Email Me | |
In football, the position of safety can be a very lonely one. As the last line of defense, the safety frequently finds himself on an island and has no one behind him to help if he makes a mental or physical mistake. Sometimes the safety attacks. Other times he hangs back to prevent diaster. Either way, the stakes are high. Which is why it should come as no surprise that one of the most successful corporate litigators in the country was also a starting safety at Duke University.
Kirk May's first love was football. He wanted to play in the NFL. After Duke, he signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals to try out at training camp in 1977. He went to camp but did not make the team. Football's loss was the legal profession's gain. Kirk left training camp on a Thursday, picked up his wife and U-haul trailer as his home in Springfield, Missouri and by Monday morning had started law school at the University of Tulsa.
- Bar Admissions:
- Oklahoma, 1980
- Missouri, 1981
- U.S. District Court District of Kansas, 1981
- U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri, 1981
- U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 1993
- U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 1981
- U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit, 1999
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1995
- Education:
- University of Tulsa College of Law, Tulsa, Oklahoma,
1980
J.D.
Honors: Summa Cum Laude
Law Review: Tulsa Law Review, Staff Member, 1978 - 1979
Law Review: Tulsa Law Review, Notes and Comments Editor, Vol. 14., 1979 - 1980 - Duke University, Durham, North Carolina,
1977
B.A.
Honors: Cum Laude
- Representative Cases:
- Johnson v. Rival Mfg. Co., 813 S.W.2d 78 (Mo.App. W.D. 1991)
- Universal Money Centers, Inc. v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 797 F.Supp. 891 (D.Kan. 1992)
- Wolf v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 808 S.W.2d 868 (Mo.App. W.D. 1991)
- Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Attorney Work Product, Missouri Bar Association
- Removal to Federal Court, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
- Effective Cross Examination of Expert Witnesses, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
- Professional Associations and Memberships:
- American Bar Association, Litigation Section
- Missouri Bar
- School Law Committee
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit
- Federal Advisory Committee
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Gender Bias Task Force
- Past Employment Positions:
- Hon. J. Smith Henley, United States Circuit Judge, 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, Law Clerk, 1980 - 1981
- Stinson, Mag & Fizzell, Partner









