Roger has been litigating high stakes personal injury cases since the late 1990’s. Missouri Lawyers Weekly reports of the verdicts and settlements he has obtained have been among the highest in the State of Missouri. He started the Nail Law Firm so he could focus on representing those injured by the negligence or intentional acts of others.
Roger is a graduate of Westminster College. He also holds a Masters of Arts in Public Policy and received his law degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia. While in law school he was a member of the Board of Advocates, the Journal of Dispute Resolution, and was afforded the opportunity to study law abroad at King’s College, Cambridge University.
Following graduation Roger served as a felony prosecutor in the Circuit Attorney’s Office in St. Louis, Missouri where he represented the people of the State of Missouri against felony criminal defendants.
He then worked at the international law firm of Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLC. While at Shook Hardy Roger represented multinational companies and healthcare providers in the defense of product liability and professional malpractice cases. Through his experience there he gained an understanding of the way corporate defendants and insurance companies litigate and value personal injury claims.
For nine years Roger was a partner at a local plaintiff’s/personal injury law firm where his practice was limited to representing those injured. This is where Roger honed his skills for getting complicated medical information from people with no medical or legal training and finding hidden evidence, making sure it isn’t lost or destroyed. He believes that a thorough investigation carried out quickly (personally or through private investigators) is essential. This belief has led to astounding trial results for his clients.
Since 2005 Roger has been representing victims of catastrophic injury and wrongful death in cases involving medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, motor vehicle accidents and product and premises liability cases. Roger has also represented clients across the nation in various mass tort product liability cases involving defective medical devices and/or drugs.
Much of Roger’s success in trial is due to the time he takes to get to know his clients. The more he knows about the people he represents and the details of their case, the harder he fights for fair and just compensation. Knowing how to become invested in his cases and provide honest and tenacious representation for his clients is the very reason Roger receives awards and recognition from some of the legal community’s most respected organizations.
In 2011 Roger was awarded the prestigious Thomas J. Conway Young Trial Lawyer Award by the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. The Conway Award is given each year to one lawyer who exemplifies two traits: 1) outstanding trial skills, and 2) the ability to be a fierce advocate and a good friend to opposing counsel at the same time.
The same year he was also recognized by Ingram’s Magazine by his inclusion in their “40 Under Forty” publication. He is regularly recognized by the Kansas City Business Journal as one of the “Best of the Bar” and has been repeatedly chosen as a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers Magazine. He is a Fellow of the Bar for the KCMBA and a Fellow of the Missouri Bar Foundation.
Since 2012 Roger has been recognized as one of Super Lawyers’ Top 50 attorneys in Kansas City and as one of the Top 100 attorneys in the States of Missouri and Kansas. Roger has also been recognized as one of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers and is a member of the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. View
Roger has served as President of the Civil Litigation Section of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (“KCMBA”) and has chaired the Tort Committee for the Missouri Bar Association. He is a former Board member and served as Chair of the KCMBA Tort Committee as well as the CLE committee. He is also a past-president of the Civil Litigation Division of the Missouri Bar Association. He is a frequent speaker and presenter at seminars and CLE presentations including moderating and presenting at the Missouri Bar’s annual “Winning Strategies in Medical Malpractice” seminar. He lives in the Kansas City area with his wife and two sons.
