Dan was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Montie Brown, an over-the road truck driver and a dock foreman, and Ilene Brown, a housewife. Dan’s
parents struggled financially and worked extremely hard to overcome the disadvantages caused by a lack of formal education while raising their three sons and
providing a home for their family. In 1969, Dan’s father was “laid off” from his job of over 24 years as a dock foreman after filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim
for a job-related injury. The “lay-off” turned out to be permanent and occurred a few months before his father completed the 25 years necessary to become vested in
his retirement fund, causing his father to lose the vast majority of his retirement benefits. This happened before the enactment of laws that now protect workers
in the vesting of retirement benefits and that protect injured employees against termination and discrimination for exercise of their Workers’ Compensation rights.
Dan never forgot the devastating impact this experience had on his Dad and on his family financially. He decided right then that he wanted to represent people who
were faced with the loss of their homes and everything they had worked their entire lives for, because of injuries they suffered at the hands of wrongdoers.
Educational Background
- The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, J.D., 1978
- Southwest Missouri State University, B.S. (Marketing), 1974
- Oklahoma City University
- Oklahoma City University Law Review
- Jefferson Community College, Associates, 1972
Bar Admissions
- Missouri Bar, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
- United States District Court for the District of Kansas
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- The Supreme Court of the United States
Professional Associations and Memberships
- The Missouri Bar Association
- The American Bar Association
- The Kansas City Bar Association, where he was chairman of the Volunteer Attorney Project Committee in 2000
- The Cass County Bar Association
- Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys where he has served as a member of the Board of Governors and currently serves as a member of the Emergency Response Team in a joint effort with The American Red Cross.
- American Association of Justice, a national trial attorneys association
- Received an “AV” rating which is the preeminent rating given by Martindale Hubbell, a Legal Peer Review Rating Association. An “AV” rating is achievable only after admission to the bar for at least ten years and indicates the highest level of legal ability and reflects the confidential opinions of the Bar and Judiciary. Since achieving that rating in 1998, Dan has been a member of The Martindale Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.
Publications and Seminar Presentations
Dan is the author of “Strict Liability”, Chapter 15, II Missouri Tort Law, Missouri Bar Association, 3rd Edition, 2003. He has also given seminar presentations
and prepared seminar materials for the Missouri Bar Association, Kansas City Bar Association, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, National Business
Institute, and Lorman Education Services on Premises Liability, Trial Practice, Out-of-State Deposition Procedure, Technology and Time Management, Advanced
Litigation for Paralegals, Missouri Workers’ Compensation, The Missouri Second Injury Fund, and The Interrelationship of The Missouri Workers’ Compensation
Law, Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Life with a Purpose
Dan currently serves as the President of Gateway Church of Blue Springs, where he and his wife have acted as Life Group Leaders. Dan is a member of Full Life
Ministry, which travels to Missouri Department of Corrections facilities and presents Celebrate Recovery Programs to offenders seeking genuine life change.
Dan previously served as a Deacon at First Baptist Church of Independence, as a member of that Church’s stewardship and personnel committees, and as a
church trustee. He also taught Sunday School for ten years at FBC.
Dan has been married since 1977 and has two children, and four grandchildren.
