Baty Otto Coronado PC announced a name change in 2019. This change marked the arrival of partners and staff from respected Kansas City law firm Coronado Katz LLC.
(Kansas City, Missouri, January 20, 2020) Baty Otto Coronado PC (formerly Baty, Holm, Numrich & Otto, P.C.) welcomed the addition of three incoming partners on October 1, 2019. Steve Coronado, Mark Katz, and Chris Heigele, all members of Coronado Katz LLC, joined the firm’s Kansas City office. With the addition of Steve, Mark, Chris, and their staff, the firm changed its name to Baty Otto Coronado PC. Steve Coronado will serve on the newly named firm’s executive committee, along with partners Lee Baty and Theresa Otto.
Subsequently, Paul Gordon joined the firm in January 2020 as a partner, and Kevin Miller and Lauren Nichols were hired in late 2019 as associates. Paul, Kevin, and Lauren practice from the firm’s Kansas City office.
The firm also is pleased to announce that it promoted three associates from its Kansas City, St. Louis, and Springfield offices to partner, effective January 1, 2020.
“Baty Otto Coronado continues a long, distinguished history of defending corporations, including product manufacturers; construction and trucking companies; public entities; insurers; and individuals in civil litigation,” said Lee Baty. “With Steve, Mark, and Chris on board, the firm’s partners provide its clients with more than 100 years of dispute resolution and trial experience.
We also are honored to welcome new attorneys to the firm, and we proudly recognize the accomplishments of our newly promoted partners, all of whom have demonstrated excellence as litigators and who embrace the firm’s tradition of providing high-quality representation in civil litigation defense matters to a wide range of corporations.”
“Together, we will continue to offer exemplary client service, recruit talented and diverse professionals to our team, and deliver on our mission to provide ever greater efficiency and value in the cases we litigate,” said Theresa Otto. Steve Coronado concurred. “We are of one mind,” he said, “in every way that matters.”
The new attorneys are:
Steve Coronado is a partner in Baty Otto Coronado’s Kansas City office and is a member of the firm’s three-person executive committee. A Kansas City native, he is an experienced civil litigator practicing in general personal injury law, governmental entity liability, retail and hospitality liability, products liability, construction law, truck accident law, nursing home liability, and commercial law. For more than 20 years, Steve has held an AV rating from national law publication Martindale-Hubbell—the highest rating granted following a peer review. Steve’s legal career spans more than 30 years; he has and continues to be involved in local and national legal organizations.
Paul Gordon is an experienced civil trial attorney, having tried cases in federal and state courts in Missouri and Kansas. He represents clients who are involved in cases arising from claims related to governmental liability, construction defect, wrongful death, products liability, employment discrimination, breach of contract, trucking accidents, and premises liability. Paul serves on the Steering Committee of DRI, a leading organization of defense attorneys and in-house counsel. He also chairs the Governmental Liability Committee of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and has been a featured speaker at multiple legal conferences nationwide.
Chris Heigele is a lifelong Kansas City resident. After working in a plaintiff’s litigation firm, gaining valuable trial and appellate experience, he shifted his focus more than 20 years ago to a defense-oriented practice. Chris defends government and law enforcement entities in civil rights law and other liability claims and corporations and manufacturers in products liability claims; he also practices in the areas of nursing home litigation, construction law, and general commercial liability insurance defense. He joined Baty Otto Coronado’s Kansas City office as a partner in 2019.
Mark Katz has defended a broad range of clients in a variety of cases, from manufacturers and distributors in fire and explosion cases to government entities and their employees in constitutional law matters and statutory claims. Mark works with clients to develop and implement plans for risk management not only from exposure to monetary damages but from the reputational damage that can result in cases that attract negative publicity. After a short time with a commercial litigation law firm, Mark joined the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office as an assistant prosecutor where he charged and tried felony cases and counseled the grand jury. He left the Prosecutor’s Office to practice as a civil litigation lawyer. Mark continued his trial and appellate work at Coronado Katz LLC until joining Baty Otto Coronado’s Kansas City office in 2019.
Kevin Miller defends clients in personal injury litigation and claims arising from trucking accidents and defective construction. He graduated magna cum laude from Washburn University School of Law. While at Washburn, he served as the executive and technical editor of the Washburn Law Journal. Kevin received his undergraduate degree from Benedictine College. Following law school, Kevin clerked for the Honorable Stephen D. Hill on the Kansas Court of Appeals for two years.
Lauren Nichols joined Baty Otto Coronado after earning her Juris Doctor with Distinction from the University of Nebraska College of Law. While in law school, she clerked for a law firm in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she assisted with various personal injury and insurance defense matters. Lauren received her undergraduate degree in risk management and insurance and her MBA from Missouri State University.
The newly elected partners are:
Erica Briscoe (St. Louis) joined Baty Otto Coronado in August 2013. She is a civil litigator practicing in the areas of construction, complex personal injury, insurance coverage, transportation, and product liability. Erica regularly defends corporate entities and individuals as a property damage and personal injury attorney.
Andrew Donelan (Springfield) joined the firm in August 2015 as a civil litigator. He practices in the areas of commercial law, complex personal injury law, medical malpractice, employment discrimination, and civil rights claims. He has successfully represented businesses, insurance companies, and individuals in cases involving severe and catastrophic injuries. Andrew is also experienced in defending cases involving allegations of corporate or professional negligence.
Elizabeth Murray (Kansas City) joined Baty Otto Coronado in January 2014. Elizabeth’s practice focuses on commercial litigation and business law, complex personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, and insurance coverage litigation. She also practices as a nursing home and medical malpractice attorney. Elizabeth has experience representing clients in state and federal courts. Her broad background in litigation offers versatility and significant trial experience to firm clients. She has represented clients in matters involving business disputes, securities litigation, defense of financial institutions, and free speech law. As a state and federal prosecutor, Elizabeth presented cases to grand juries, argued before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and participated in several jury trials in Missouri circuit courts and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
About the firm:
Baty Otto Coronado, with 22 attorneys and offices in Kansas City, St. Louis, and Springfield, serves clients throughout Missouri, Kansas, and southern Illinois in both state and federal courts, from trial through, when necessary, appeals. Baty Otto Coronado’s attorneys have participated in hundreds of jury and bench trials as well as thousands of arbitrations and mediations. They have argued cases in the Missouri and Kansas appellate courts, including the Missouri and Kansas Supreme Courts as well as the Eighth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals. Several of the firm’s attorneys are admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.