Mitchell Burgess is originally from Southwest Missouri. Mitch completed his undergraduate degree at Drury University in Springfield double majoring in History and Political Science. He graduated in 1995, magna cum laude and as a member of the Honors Program. Mitch attended Law School at the University of Missouri - Columbia and received his Juris Doctorate in 1998. While at M.U., Mitch was a member of the Missouri Environmental Law & Policy Review and was published in 1997. After graduating from law school, Mitch clerked for the Honorable Judge Laura Stith on the Missouri Court of Appeals – Western District. Judge Stith now sits on the Missouri Supreme Court. Prior to opening his own law firm in the fall of 2004, Mitch worked for a highly successful Kansas City Plaintiffs litigation firm where he gained tremendous experience handling case across the county involving personal injury, pharmaceutical and product liability litigation. Since founding his own law firm in 2004, Mitch has repeatedly been recognized as one of the top Plaintiffs' Attorneys in the region. He has been named one of the "Best of the Bar" by the Kansas City Business Journal, a "SuperLawyer" by Superlawyers Magazine, and one of the "Top 40 Under 40" by the National Trial Lawyers Association. In 2010, Mitch was named one of the "Winningest" plaintiffs' attorneys by Missouri Lawyers Weekly and also was recognized for securing one of the Top 10 Plaintiffs wins that year. Mitch has had numerous successes in personal injury and class action litigation and has been appointed class counsel on dozens of class action cases.

John Landwehr joined CVDL in 1984 after serving as an Assistant Attorney General under John D. Ashcroft for three years. He practices in the areas of estate planning, business formation, personal injury, real estate and commercial litigation. He also represents professionals in licensing matters. He enjoys solving problems so that his clients can be successful. John’s “hobby” is local politics. After serving seven years on the City Council in Jefferson City, John was elected Mayor in 2003 and re-elected in 2007 for a second term that ended in April 2011. He has stayed active with local issues by serving as President of Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri, and the Diocesan Planned Giving Committee. John received his B.A. (1974) and M.A. (1975) in Philosophy from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and his law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1981.

Charlie focuses his legal practice in the areas of workers’ compensation, personal injury, social security disability, medical malpractice, wrongful death, general civil litigation, and employment law. Charlie served as Prosecuting Attorney for the City of Crystal City from 2004-2007. Charlie has been a guest speaker and lecturer for various civil organizations and educational programs, serving as an Adjunct Professor at St. Louis Community College and guest lecturer at Jefferson College and currently serves as Adjunct Professor at Jefferson College.

John Lake is an experienced, knowledgeable and compassionate attorney who is well-equipped to take care of you and your case. You will be well-advised regarding your legal rights, so you can confidently move forward with your pursuits.

Richard Vandever has been practicing law since 1980. His law firm: Law Offices of Richard D. Vandever LLC, is located in Kansas City. The firm represents individuals seeking compensation for injuries and entitlement to various benefits wrongfully denied them. He has represented thousands of individuals in a wide variety of cases with recoveries totaling in millions of dollars. Individuals pursuing these claims find themselves opposed by giant entities: insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, governmental bureaucracies, and multi-national corporations. It has been a privilege to represent these individuals and help balance the scales in what is almost always a David versus Goliath contest.

Bryan Gentry, the founder of The Gentry Law Firm, has represented numerous clients in domestic, criminal, civil & traffic matters. Bryan was born and raised in south Kansas City, Missouri. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri in Columbia. In 2016, he joined the Jackson County 16th circuit court as a law clerk for Division 34 under the honorable judge Susan E. Long. For nearly 3 years, he was instrumental in resolving thousands of cases spanning across criminal, civil, domestic and traffic matters. He managed multiple dockets, drafted orders, reviewed pleadings, and assisted in issuing orders, summons and warrants. During this time, Bryan gained substantial rapport with the bench and local legal community. After spending several years with the Jackson County circuit court, Bryan practiced civil litigation at a local Kansas City law firm, where he honed his legal skills around contracts and collections. In 2020, amidst a global pandemic, Bryan decided to open his own firm so he could better serve his own community. He started The Gentry Law Firm to be a resource and advocate for his community. He navigates his clients through the Kansas City legal system using a detail-oriented approach to get the best possible results for his clients. Bryan is a compassionate and down-to-earth legal counsel who will manage the stress of your case enabling you to focus on moving forward with your life. Bryan holds an active Missouri Bar license and is a member of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.

Katherine Garcia is a practicing lawyer in the state of Missouri handing Family law matters.

Tamara Putnam has been practicing law for over 25 years in the Kansas City metropolitan area. She attended the University of Missouri at St. Louis to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics with Cum Laude Honors. She earned a four year athletic scholarship as a member of the University of Missouri–St. Louis NCAA Women’s Basketball team. Tamara then attended Washburn University School of Law to obtain her Juris Doctorate. While attending Washburn Law School, Tamara Putnam became a published author. The Washburn Law Journal published her law review article with co-author Jonathan Lautt. Will Debtors Win the Battle as Creditors Win the War?: Retroactive Recovery of Attorney Fees in Consumer Credit Contracts in Kansas, p. 556-572 (1.5 MB PDF) Tamara I. Putnam & Jonathan J. Lautt Tamara worked for the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. She worked as a drug prosecutor. She was promoted to the lead prosecutor of the Violent Gang Crime Unit. She worked closely with the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) and Street Narcotics Unit (SNU) to prosecute crimes related to illegal production, transfer, sale and possession of controlled substances. As head of the Gang Unit, she focused on the prosecution of violent offenses committed by suspected gang members, including assaults, robberies, armed criminal action and shooting into a dwelling. After a successful term as a prosecutor, Tamara moved into private practice with a focus on criminal defense. As a former prosecutor, she has a deep understanding of the strategies used by the prosecution and law enforcement to obtain convictions. She prepares for the prosecutor’s tactics and walks into court prepared to defend her client’s case. Tamara later expanded her practice to include personal injury. She litigates personal injury cases in both Missouri and Kansas from a simple slip and fall to wrongful death. She has an unwavering commitment to assist people who have been injured due to the negligent actions of others. She takes great pride in taking on the profit motivated insurance companies and holding them accountable to fully compensate her clients. Tamara has focused her practice on criminal defense and serious personal injury her entire career. She has handled countless felonies charges in State Court as a prosecutor and now as a criminal defense counsel. She also focuses her practice on litigation of serious personal injury accidents. Tamara has a fierce reputation as an outstanding advocate excelling in both criminal defense and personal injury.

Kevin is a patent attorney who also provides services for trademarks, copyrights, licensing, and other IP matters. He counsels clients on the best ways to use IP assets to advance their business and protect against infringers. Kevin works in a broad range of technology areas, including mechanical devices, automotive tech, building/construction methods, electro-mechanical, computer/software arts, internet technologies, and innovations in manufacturing and business processes. He started his career as an Operations Engineer at a large St. Louis fruit and produce distributor, before entering law school at St. Louis University School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctorate. Kevin is active in the St. Louis entrepreneur and startup community. His desire to work with entrepreneurs was spurred by his father, a former packaging engineer with patents himself, who now counsels businesses and startups in packaging technology, design and innovation. Coincidentally, Kevin’s wife is a marketing innovator at a Fortune 500 company, who grew up in a family of entrepreneurs as well. His two biggest passions outside of his IP work are time with his wife and daughter... and, of course, golf!

Since 2009, Kenneth Brennan has been a valuable asset to our team of attorneys at TorHoerman Law. Ken Brennan is an accomplished trial lawyer with over 20 years of experience in courtrooms throughout the United States.