GRAY RITTER GRAHAM - Key Persons
Don's tireless advocacy and negotiating skills have resulted in verdicts and settlements of over $3 billion on behalf of many thousands of injured persons and businesses.
Don has over thirty-seven years of experience representing interests of his clients. Don's practice has focused on complex commercial litigation, including class actions and mass tort actions. He has been appointed to executive committees and as lead and co-lead plaintiffs' counsel to represent injured parties against large companies alleged to have engaged in consumer fraud, health care overcharges, and selling defective products. A native of Kennett, Missouri, Don grew up around farming. He also has fought for farmers and others in the agricultural industry in cases involving defective seed, market disruption based on premature release of genetically modified seed, herbicide drift resulting in crop loss, and government mistakes in loan program payments.
Don also is highly experienced in individual disputes, including fraud, breach of contract, negligence, securities, antitrust, and professional malpractice. After clerking for a federal judge, Don began his legal career at a large defense firm, where he was managing partner of its St. Louis office. He understands defense thinking and business concerns, valuable assets when advising and advocating for clients injured in commercial dealings. Don also served as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Missouri, placing him in the front row of policy disputes and governmental issues. He succeeded in having the photo ID requirement declared unconstitutional in Missouri (Weinschenk v. State of Missouri) and can navigate regulatory and administrative challenges.
Don has been consistently recognized as among the top litigators in this state and the country, receiving numerous prestigious awards including being admitted as a Fellow in both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has also been honored by, and elected to leadership positions in, numerous organizations including such influential positions as Chair of the University of Missouri's Board of Curators.
Don earned a degree in economics from the University of Missouri in 1979 (cum laude), and a law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1982, where he served as an editor on the Missouri Law Review. He served as law clerk for the Honorable Edward L. Filippine, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Don is licensed in Missouri and Illinois, before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Eighth Circuit, and U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri.
Job Titles:
- Law Clerk and Research Attorney
Jack graduated from the University of Missouri in 2014 with a degree in Economics. He earned his law degree from the University of Missouri in 2017 where he was a Note and Comment Editor for the Law Review. He served a judicial internship with Honorable E. Richard Webber.
Jack joined Gray Ritter Graham in 2017, practicing primarily in the areas of commercial litigation, class action litigation, mass torts, wrongful death and catastrophic injury. Jack made valuable contributions in several notable cases including the In re Dicamba herbicide case resulting in $400 million class action and individual settlements, and In re Syngenta, involving premature commercialization of genetically modified seed, culminating in a $1.51 billion global settlement.
Jack was named a Rising Star by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers magazine in 2021-2023. He was named an "Up & Coming Lawyer" by Missouri Lawyers Weekly in 2019. He is licensed in Missouri and United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Job Titles:
- Appellate Law Experts
- Earns Barrister Membership in Local Chapter of American Inns of Court
- Moderator for the Missouri Bar Seminar on Missouri Approved Instructions - Civil
Joan is a dynamic, committed advocate with nearly thirty years of experience in personal injury, automobile and trucking accidents, product liability, medical negligence, wrongful death, and complex business and commercial litigation cases. She has secured approximately $20 million in verdicts and over $60 million in settlements on behalf of clients who suffered personal as well as business injuries.
Joan frequently lectures on topics such as civil trial practice, jury instructions, tort law, discovery, medical negligence issues, professionalism, and premises liability. She has been consistently recognized for her talent and service to the legal community, receiving numerous prestigious awards including the Thomas G. Strong Trial Attorney Award, annually given to the "Missouri attorney who best exemplifies the qualities of professionalism, ethics, character and courtroom success."
Joan has served on the Missouri Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions (MAI) since 2003 and is the current Chair of the Committee. She has been recognized as Plaintiffs' Lawyer of the Year for medical negligence and product liability litigation and listed in Best Lawyers in America for medical malpractice, personal injury, and product liability litigation. Joan has also been cited as a Top 50 female attorney and a Top 100 attorney in Missouri and Kansas.
Kaitlin earned her law degree in 2008 from the University of Missouri School of law where she graduated with honors (Order of the Coif), served as Managing Editor of the Law Review, and was awarded the William H. Howard Legal Research and Writing Award.
After serving as a law clerk for the Honorable E. Richard Webber, Kaitlin joined Gray Ritter Graham where she practices in the areas of complex commercial litigation, consumer protection, and defective products. Kaitlin was an active member of the team in cases involving market loss from premature release of genetically modified seed - In re Genetically Modified Rice Litigation, resulting in settlement of $750 million, and In re Syngenta, resulting in global settlement of $1.51 billion, as well as In re Dicamba involving herbicide drift culminating in $400 million in mass action and individual settlements. She was also part of the briefing team in an appeal upholding final approval of a $32 million class action settlement in a pet food mislabeling case. Kaitlin has extensive experience in e-discovery and computer stored document systems.
Kaitlin was named a Rising Star by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers magazine in 2015-2018 and an "Up and Coming Lawyer" by Missouri Lawyers Weekly in 2012. She was Best Lawyers of St. Louis Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions, Plaintiffs' Lawyer of the Year in 2018 and has served on the Women Lawyers' Association of St. Louis Board of Directors.
Kaitlin is licensed in Missouri and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
After receiving his B.S.N. (magna cum laude) in 1994, Graham worked in cardiac acute care and intensive care units at Barnes Hospital before receiving his law degree (cum laude) in 2000. Since then, Graham has combined his medical knowledge and legal expertise to advocate for persons injured by medical negligence. His skilled representation has secured over $30 million in verdicts and settlements in personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases.
In 2009, Graham was named a Rising Star by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyer's Magazine. He is recognized as one of the top medical malpractice attorneys in Missouri. In 2022, Graham was named 2023 St. Louis "Lawyer of the Year" in the category of Medical Malpractice, in Best Lawyers in America. In 2015, he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Lawyers Association of St. Louis and currently serving as Treasurer. He has been a member of the Membership Committee of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis since 2014, serving as Chair in 2020-2023. Graham will serve as Secretary of BAMSL in 2023-2024.
Graham is licensed in Missouri, Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Job Titles:
- Recipient of BAMSL President 's Award
Maurice ("Marcy") Graham is one of the most recognized and respected names in the Missouri legal community, where he has practiced in complex business and commercial litigation, catastrophic personal injury and death cases for over fifty years. In 2013, Marcy obtained the highest jury verdict ever received in a medical negligence wrongful death case in St. Louis County. His skill and dedication have produced over $406 million in verdicts and $85 million in settlements in individual as well as class action cases.
In 2022 the Supreme Court of Missouri announced it was changing the name of an award it presents annually to an attorney who has rendered extraordinary service to The Bar and to the Judiciary, and that hereafter this award shall be called the "Maurice B. Graham Award."
Job Titles:
- Elected President - Elect of the Missouri Bar
- GRG Partner
Pat has over thirty-five years of experience as a trial lawyer in state and federal courts across the country, concentrating in railroad, automobile and trucking accidents, wrongful death, catastrophic personal injury, product liability, medical malpractice and commercial litigation. Pat has secured numerous multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients. He has been regularly recognized for excellence as a lawyer and for service to the legal community.
After a successful college soccer career, Pat attended law school at St. Louis University. Thereafter, he had the great pleasure and distinction of serving as a law clerk for an esteemed judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Carl R. Gaertner. He then worked at a large defense firm in St. Louis before joining Gray Ritter Graham in 1992. He has been with the firm ever since.
Pat is a recipient of the President's Award from the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, a member of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys Board of Governors, a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers and Associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates. On three occasions, he has been elected President of the Missouri/Southern Illinois Chapter of ABOTA. He has been named Best Lawyer's Plaintiff's Lawyer of the Year in St. Louis and is among Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers in areas of transportation, maritime, litigation, and personal injury.
Pat is licensed in Missouri, Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He has practiced in State and Federal Courts in Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas and Idaho. He has argued appeals in the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Job Titles:
- Trial Attorney Award, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys ( 2021 )
Tom practices primarily in areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability and consumer class actions. In 2019, Tom was a member of the trial team in a consolidated lawsuit that obtained settlements of more than $47 million for families who lost loved ones or were injured in a boiler explosion. He represented the family of one of the individuals who died in that accident, recognized as the second highest plaintiff's settlement that year by Missouri Lawyers Weekly. In 2018, Tom was a member of the trial team securing a $4.69 billion victory for 22 plaintiffs against Johnson & Johnson, the largest verdict in Missouri history.
Tom has received numerous awards, including being named St. Louis Mass Tort Litigation/Class Action Plaintiffs' Lawyer of the Year. He has been cited as one of the Top 50 St. Louis attorneys by Super Lawyers magazine. Tom is the recipient of the St. Louis County Bar Association's Roy F. Essen Outstanding Young Lawyer Award for excellence as a lawyer, distinguished service to the Bar, and outstanding service to the community. He was also a member of the National Trial Lawyer's Association's Top 40 Under 40.
Tom has served on the Appellate Judicial Commission for the Eastern District of Missouri since 2018 and before that on the 22nd Circuit Judicial Commission. He also has served as President of the Lawyers Association of St. Louis Executive Committee. Since 2013, Tom has served as a member on the Missouri Bar's Joint Commission on Women in the Profession.
Tom is licensed in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, and various U.S. District Courts.
Job Titles:
- Law School Adjunct Professor
Job Titles:
- Leader of Tomorrow Award, St. Louis Daily Record Women 's Justice Awards, 2008