MONNAT & SPURRIER - Key Persons
Braxton Eck is a Maize, Kansas, native whose high school flair for extemporaneous speaking and policy debate spawned a passion to apply those skills in the courtroom. After becoming Kansas state champion of High School Debate and Forensics and a two-time national qualifier in the National Speech and Debate Association, Mr. Eck continued to hone his debating skills at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, where he earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts with a minor in political science, and at Mississippi College School of Law, where he earned his juris doctorate degree.
With an avid interest in legal research, Mr. Eck earned a coveted internship in the chambers of U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Gale, drafting memoranda on various legal issues.
A firm believer in community service, Mr. Eck was a student volunteer for Kansas City's Harvesters Community Food Network, a non-profit dedicated to poverty alleviation and providing food for emergency food pantries, community kitchens, homeless shelters, children's homes and others.
Mr. Eck's practice at Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, focuses on the defense of clients accused in municipal, state and federal courts.
Job Titles:
- Accounts Payable and Billing
Chris Smith has been with Monnat & Spurrier since 1998. She holds her Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from Wichita State University. Ms. Smith works in the office part-time, assisting the office manager in various capacities.
Defense attorney Dan Monnat hinted at the defense strategy by saying Tiller has never "knowingly or intentionally" been financially affiliated with the doctor who provided second opinions.
Dan Monnat has been listed as one of the "Top 100" lawyers in the Missouri-Kansas edition of Super Lawyers for more than 15 years, and named one of the "Top 10" lawyers in Missouri & Kansas from 2018-2022. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America® for 35 years.
Dan Monnat co-founded Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, in 1985. Mr. Monnat is licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the federal and state courts of Kansas and Nebraska and the federal courts of Colorado, Missouri (W.D) and Michigan (E.D).
Daniel E. Monnat and Trevor D. Riddle, Pandemic: Protecting the Accused's Right to In-Person Pre-Trial Hearings, Journal of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, November 2020, at 19.
Awards
Super Lawyers TOP 10 - Dan Monnat
Top Ranked Chambers - Dan Monnat
American College of Trial Lawyers
Trial Lawyers College of Thunderhead Ranch
Best Lawyers - 2014 - Dan Monnat
Best Lawyers - 2012 - Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered
Martindale Hubble - Dan Monnat
The National Trial Lawyers
America's Top 100 Attorneys - Dan Monnat
NORML Legal Committee
Super Lawyers Feature Story
Best Lawyers - 2023 - Dan Monnat
Fellow Litigation Counsel of America
Eagle Kansas Trial Lawyer Association
Super Lawyers - Top 100
Super Lawyers - Dan Monnat - 15 Years
American Bar Foundation
Job Titles:
- Tiller 's Lawyer Tells of Fears Preceding Slaying
As Wichita lawyer Dan Monnat prepared to hear a jury's verdict in late March**, he received notice of the latest threat against his client, abortion provider George Tiller.
George Tiller was acquitted Friday of misdemeanor charges stemming from late-term abortions he performed, but moments after the verdict was announced the state's medical board announced it was investigating similar allegations against him.
Dr. George Tiller was found not guilty of 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from some abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. Prosecutors had alleged that a doctor he used for second opinions was essentially an employee of his and not independent as state law requires.
Dr. George Tiller is on trial in Sedgwick County District Court on 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. He is accused of breaking a state law requiring that two Kansas physicians without legal or financial ties sign off on any late-term procedure.
Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against abortion provider George Tiller after calling as their lone witness the consulting physician who provided the second opinion required by Kansas law for late-term abortions. Tiller's lawyers were to begin presenting their evidence today. They will try to show that Tiller had no improper financial or legal connections with Ann Kristin Neuhaus, from whom he regularly sought second opinions on late-term abortions. Read More
Job Titles:
- Front Desk Receptionist and Office Assistant
Evelyn Amezquita-Frias joined us as a full-time front desk receptionist and office assistant in 2023. She is a graduate of Wichita High School North and has attended Heritage College. She previously worked as a Clerk/Receptionist for a law firm and medical offices. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Evelyn has also worked as a professional interpreter and translator.
Job Titles:
- Legal Assistant to Dan Monnat and the Firm
Gina Wehby joined our firm in August 2018. She holds a Bachelor's in Political Science from the University of Kansas. She also completed medico-legal coursework at Drake University (undergraduate) and Saint Louis University College for Public Health & Social Justice (master's level), and attended Saint Louis University College of Law, where she completed law and health law coursework. Ms. Wehby has a keen interest and enjoyment in legal research and writing.
Monnat & Spurrier is privileged to have the unique assistance of Grace X. Wu-Monnat as its Office Manager and Trial Consultant.
Grace X. Wu-Monnat was born in Shanghai, China, to an ancestry rich in the traditions of the Chinese martial arts. At age 3, Grace began training with two of China's most famous and influential martial artists, her grandfather, Grandmaster Wang Ziping, and her mother, China's national martial arts champion and among the first generation of Women's Grandmasters Professor Madam Wang Jurong. Grace received her B.A. in Chinese Martial Arts from Shanghai Teachers University and her Master's Degree in Sports Administration from Wichita State University.
Job Titles:
- Legal Assistant to Eli O'Brien
Julie Woodring joined our firm in January of 2020. She received her B.A. in Psychology from William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, and her M.A. in Dance/Movement Therapy from Goucher College in Towson, MD. After a career in education at the Kansas School for the Blind, the Shawnee Mission Autistic program, as owner/operator of a private daycare, and as adjunct professor at Southwestern College in Winfield, KS; Ms. Woodring joined Andreas Law Office in Winfield, gaining experience in both civil and criminal law.
Job Titles:
- Commission by Governor Kathleen Sebelius, 2007