Tom Wagstaff, Jr. has extensive experience in the areas of nursing home and elder abuse liability, personal injury and wrongful death, business and commercial disputes, product liability, and class actions. Tom has litigated cases in federal court and state courts nationwide, including Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Arkansas and Arizona. Tom is the founding member of the Law Office of Tom Wagstaff, Jr. located in Overland Park, Kansas.
To Tom, a lawsuit is about helping a family out. A lawsuit is about getting answers and holding the wrongdoer accountable. A lawsuit is not about money. Tom enjoys serving as an advocate for his clients and developing life-long friendships with his clients. Ultimately, the lawsuit is about the life of his client; however, as any given case progresses Tom adopts his client’s position and works side by side with his client to impact change and to obtain a favorable result.
Tom’s skill and passion have earned him recognition on several occasions as one of Kansas City’s outstanding trial lawyers. Tom’s peers have routinely selected him for inclusion in the Kansas City Business Journal’s “Best of the Bar,” and he has been named a “Super Lawyer” by Kansas & Missouri Super Lawyers every year since 2008. In 2007, Tom also received the Thomas J. Conway award, which is presented annually by the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association to a trial lawyer who “represents his/her clients with zeal.” In addition, in 2011, Tom was named one of Ingram’s Magazine’s 40 Under Forty. Tom is also a select member to The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100, and in 2019 was selected by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys as one of the 10 Best Attorneys in Kansas for Exceptional and Outstanding Client Service.
Tom currently serves on the Board of Governors to the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association and is a member of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the Kansas Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice, where he is a member of the nursing home litigation group. Tom is a past chair of the Medical-Legal/Nursing Home Litigation committee for the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. Tom has also spoken at legal, medical and nursing home seminars on trial tactics and strategy.
Tom has served on the board of directors of various civic organizations, including Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, where he served as board vice president, and the Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City, where he served as the board president. Tom is also a past board member of Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants and First Downs for Down Syndrome.
When not serving his clients, Tom likes to spend as much time as possible with his wife, Carrie, and their three children – Will, Regan and Owen.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
Nursing Home and Elder Abuse Liability
Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Liability
Product Liability
Professional Malpractice
Business and Commercial Liability
Class-Action Lawsuits
Qui Tam / Whistleblower Litigation
BAR ADMISSIONS
Arkansas
Kansas
Missouri
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas
U.S. District Court, Western District of Arkansas
U.S. District Court, District of Kansas
U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri
EDUCATION
University of Kansas School of Law, 1998
DePauw University, 1995
