Jeff Burns

Partner

Jeff Burns is one of the preeminent truck crash attorneys in the country. He has consulted on hundreds of cases and won his clients millions of dollars in settlements.

Over the span of his career he has not only tirelessly fought for justice for his clients, but more importantly, has worked on a national level to reform and change the trucking industry to be safer. He has spent almost as much time in Washington D.C. as Kansas City educating the public and working for rule changes, stronger laws and stricter enforcement.

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A Man of His Word

Jeff didn’t set out to become one of the most respected truck crash attorneys in the nation. He became involved in truck safety literally, by accident. “Many years ago,” Jeff recalls, “in my first truck crash case I represented a client who had lost his wife and two daughters, ages 6 and 9, in a crash caused by a fatigued truck driver. I had a daughter about the age of the younger girl at the time,” he notes, “and the more I learned about the trucking industry by working on that case, the more I was afraid of putting my family on the highway.”

“That first case was a life-changing event for me,” states Jeff. “Standing in the weeds next to the highway at the scene of the crash, I promised the girls’ father their deaths would not be in vain; that I would make sure that their loss would make a difference.”

To help remind him of what his practice is all about and the promise he made, he keeps a broken pair of one of the girl’s white roller skates with pink wheels in his office.

Changing the Trucking Industry for the Better

Jeff’s goal is to help trucking companies see the light and realize there can actually be a remarkable return on investment when they institute or strengthen safety programs. There is less litigation, and drivers stay with companies longer when they see stronger safety rules as a genuine commitment to help protect them.

Jeff believes we need a quantum shift in the way trucking companies, their customers and consumers look at the industry. “We need to get big shippers to include a good safety record as part of their service expectation,” he says, “and consumers need to hold companies accountable for the carriers they choose in the same way they now hold retailers accountable for the working conditions of people who make the products they sell.”

“Our firm tries to do the right thing,” Jeff points out, “we cannot sit back and work on these tragic cases and not try to do something about the problem.”

Jeff is at the front of the national movement for increased safety in the trucking industry. He serves on the Boards of Directors of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) and Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.), both grassroots safety advocacy organizations. He is a former director for the Center for Truck Safety (C.T.S.) and also served in the Alliance for Safe Highways. Burns has served as National Transportation Counsel for P.A.T.T. since shortly after the organization was founded in 1994.

He was appointed as a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board’s Truck and Bus Safety Committee (ANB70), and the Secretary of Transportation has appointed him as a member of the National Freight Advisory Committee.

Finally, he has also served on the Board of Directors of the Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City.

Credentials

Areas of Practice

Truck Crashes

Catastrophic Injury

Wrongful Death

Bar Admissions

Missouri

Education

University of Missouri School of Law, Columbia, Missouri

University of Leicester Facility of Law, Leicester, England

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid Spain

Truman State, Kirksville, Missouri

Contact Jeff Burns


    Professional Associations and Memberships

    The National Board of Trial Advocates, Board Certification in Truck Accident Law (first in Missouri and first 23 in U.S. to achieve such certification)

    Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s Commercial Transportation and Litigation General Committee

    Truck and Bus Safety Committee (ANB70), Transportation Research Board, Former Member and Current Friend of the Committee

    Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association, Vice-Chair

    Truck Litigation Group for the American Association for Justice; Current Member, and Former Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary

    National Freight Advisory Committee, Former Member

    Alliance for Safe Highways, Missouri/Kansas affiliate of the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, Former Member

    Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH), Board Member and Director

    Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.), Board Member and Director

    National Transportation Counsel for P.A.T.T.

    Center for Truck Safety (C.T.S.), Former Director

    Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City, Former Director

    National Registry of Who’s Who

    The Missouri Bar, Member

    American Bar Association, Member

    Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Member

    American Association for Justice, Member

    Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, Member

    Awards and Honors

    Best Lawyers in America – 2010-2024

    Super Lawyers – 2022-2023

    Missouri Lawyers Weekly – Power 30 – 2021

    Super Lawyers, Top 100 in Missouri & Kansas/Top 50 in Kansas City – 2005-2021

    The National Trial Lawyer’s – Top 25 Motor Vehicle Attorneys in Missouri – 2012-2019

    The National Trial Lawyer’s – Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Attorneys in Missouri – 2009-2019

    American Trial Lawyers Association – Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America – 2008-2016

    National Registry of Who’s Who – Lifetime Member

    Truck Safety Coalition – Distinguished Service Award – 2005

    Parents Against Tired Truckers – Lifesaver Award – 1998

    Missouri Lawyers Weekly – Unsung Hero Award – 1996