Experience
Upon his admission to the Missouri Bar, Mr. Shaffer joined the Jackson County Prosecutor's staff as a full-time assistant. Assigned to the trial division, he tried over 85 felony jury trials in eleven of the eighteen divisions of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit. In 1984 and 1985 he served as one of five trial team leaders charged with responsibility of supervising one-fifth of the attorneys in the criminal trial division. All new attorneys were assigned to his trial team where Mr. Shaffer developed the first ongoing continuing legal education program for attorneys in the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, integrating academic and formal legal training with practical courtroom experience. He has been awarded Martindale-Hubbell’s highest “AV” rating.
In 1985, Mr. Shaffer entered private practice. Since that time, ninety percent of Mr. Shaffer's practice has been in the area of personal injury litigation, with a particular focus on cases involving professional negligence/malpractice. From 1985 through 1987, he served as Chief Litigator for a large interstate trucking firm handling accident litigation involving personal injury and/or death, as well as freight loss, on a nationwide basis. Since 1987, Mr. Shaffer has focused on health care subjects generally, and medical malpractice defense specifically. He has personally handled well over 700 medical negligence cases on behalf of physicians and other health care providers in the state of Missouri.
Professional
Mr. Shaffer is admitted to practice law before the State Bar of Missouri, the State Bar of Kansas, the State Bar of California, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri and the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Mr. Shaffer is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, the California Bar Association, the American Bar Association and Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.
Professional Honors
In 1987, Mr. Shaffer was the recipient of the Lon O. Hocker Award given annually by the Missouri Bar Foundation to a lawyer under the age of thirty-six who has demonstrated unusual proficiency in the art of trial advocacy, as determined by sitting judges from across the State. Mr. Shaffer was elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) in 2008. He has been awarded Martindale-Hubbell’s highest “AV” rating and been selected as a “Super Lawyer” by KC Magazine on numerous occasions.
Education
Mr. Shaffer received his Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 1978 from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri - Kansas City in 1981.
Personal
Mr. Shaffer is a graduate of the School for Ministry of the Western Diocese of Missouri and was ordained a member of the Sacred Order of Deacons in the Episcopal Church in 2000. Mr. Shaffer and his wife, Sally, have five children.