Kirk T. May
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In football, the position of safety can be very lonely. 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 disaster. 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 at his home in Springfield, Missouri and by Monday morning had started law school at the University of Tulsa.
"Playing football would have been great," Kirk says, "My dad played, too. He was drafted by the then Chicago Cardinals. But when that door closed for me I moved on, changed my focus, and found another outlet for my competitive nature in law school."
Kirk served a clerkship following law school with the Honorable J. Smith Henley on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"I learned a lot about law there, but even more about how to conduct myself. Judge Smith was a gentlemanly man. One thing he taught me, aside from grace, was to decide the case before you and not to worry about the other ones. And that rather than being profound, you should focus on being right. A lot of lawyers like to be profound. I prefer to be right and win."
From the moment he began his work as an attorney for Stinson, Mag & Fizzell in 1981 Kirk May has done nothing but litigation.
"I still have my very first pay stub and first time summary in my desk drawer," he says. "I spent 60 ½ hours working on the Hyatt Regency skywalk case when I first started." "My dad always told me, do not forget where you came from and where you have been. I always follow that advice".
In 1992, Kirk and five other colleagues formed what is now Rouse Hendricks German May PC. For him, starting a smaller practice that focused solely on litigation meant the opportunity to better control his own destiny in handling high stakes, high dollar cases for plaintiffs and defendants.
"I like the challenge and competitiveness of litigation," May says. "I like that you win and you lose. When I win I want it to be because I did it. And when I lose I'm fine with it being my fault. To quote my dad again, if you want it done right, do it yourself."
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)
Areas of Practice:
100% Complex Business and Commercial Litigation
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 Federal Circuit, 1999
U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 1981
U.S. Supreme Court, 1995
Education:
University of Tulsa College of Law, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1980
J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
Honors: Summa Cum Laude
Law Review: Staff Member, 1978-1979, Notes and Comments Editor, Vol. 14,
1979-1980, Tulsa Law Review
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 1977
B.A., Bachelor of Arts
Honors: Cum Laude
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
School Law Committee of the Missouri Bar
U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Federal Advisory Committee
U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Gender Bias Task Force
Attorney Experience & Judicial Clerkship:
Honorable J. Smith Henley, United States Circuit Judge, 8th Circuit Court of
Appeals, Law Clerk, 1980 – 1981
Stinson, Mag & Fizzell, Partner
