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Jay DeHardt
Attorney at Law

Jay

Born in 1952 in Independence, Missouri, Mr. DeHardt is a lifelong area resident and currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from Van Horn High School in 1970, attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated from Rockhurst College in Kansas City, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1974. He attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City and received a Juris Doctor in 1977. He has actively practiced law since 1977 before the Courts of the State of Missouri, the Missouri Court of Appeals-Western District, and for Kansas and the United States Federal District Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits. He is a former Jackson County, Missouri, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, and Assistant Public Defender. Mr. DeHardt practiced law for 30 years as a principal in the firm of McQuain, DeHardt & Rosenbloom, P.C., and is now a shareholder in Shipman & DeHardt, P.C.

Mr. DeHardt represents individuals in matters involving dissolution and custody litigation, state and federal criminal law, DWI and traffic defense, death penalty defense, personal injury, wrongful death claims in defense of OSHA claims, and in defense of civil claims.

He is currently a member of the American Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Association, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Eastern Jackson County Bar Association, Missouri Association of Trial Lawyers, Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. DeHardt has served in a variety of appointive and elective posts in legal professional groups. He is past President of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (1993-94), past Vice-Chairman (1992), Chairman (1993), Vice-Chairman (1998) and Chairman (1999) of the Family Law Committee of the KCMBA, and a past member of the Small Firms/Solo Practitioner's Committee. 

Mr. DeHardt served on the Jackson County Circuit Court's Case Flow Management Committee (1993-94), the ADR-Parent Education Sub-Committees to the Family Court Implementation Committee (1993-94), and on the Jackson County Circuit Court Advisory Committee. He is one of the Jackson County Circuit Court-approved Domestic Relations Mediators and a designated neutral in the Western District of Missouri "Early Assessment Program."

In 1996, Mr. DeHardt was appointed by the Kansas City Bar Foundation to serve on the Board of Directors of the Missouri Lawyers Trust Account Foundation (IOLTA). He served as president of IOLTA in 2002.

Mr. DeHardt served as a member-at-large of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Board of Directors for three terms (1995-96; 1997-00). He is a past President of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (2004).

Mr. DeHardt is married and has five children.

Trust in my straightforward advice for your case.

Education

  • University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, Kansas City, Missouri

    • J.D. - 1977

  • Rockhurst College, Kansas City

    • B.S., Bachelor of Science - 1974

    • Major: Business Administration

  • Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri

    • 1970

  • Van Horn High School

    • 1970

Bar Admissions

  • Missouri, 1977

  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 1977

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 1977

  • U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit

Professional Associations

  • American Bar Association, Member

  • Missouri Bar Association, Member

  • Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Member

  • Eastern Jackson County Bar Association, Member

  • American Trial Lawyers Association, Member

  • Missouri Association of Trial Lawyers, Member

  • Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Member

  • National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Member

  • Criminal Practice and Procedure Committee, Member

  • Fee Dispute Committee, Member

  • Continuing Legal Education Committee, Member

  • Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Past President, 1993 to 1994

  • Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Past Vice-Chairman, 1992

  • Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Chairman, 1993

  • Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Vice-Chairman, 1998

  • Family Law Committee of the KCMBA, Chairman, 1999

  • Small Firms/Solo Practitioner's Committee, Past Member

  • Bench Bar Committee, Member

  • Long-Range Planning Committee, Member

  • Membership Committee, Member

  • Family Court Appointment Policy Committee, Member

  • Family Court Rules Sub-Committee Circuit Court Docket Committee, Member

  • Jackson County Circuit Court's Case Flow Management Committee, 1993 to 1994

  • ADR-Parent Education Sub-Committees to the Family Court Implementation Committee, 1993 to 1994

  • Jackson County Circuit Court Advisory Committee

  • Jackson County Circuit Court-approved Domestic Relations Mediators

  • Missouri Lawyers Trust Account Foundation (IOLTA), Board of Directors, 1996

  • IOLTA, Member

  • IOLTA, Treasurer

  • IOLTA, Past President

  • Member-at-large of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Board of Directors for three terms (1995-96; 1997-00)

  • Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Past President, 2004

Pro-Bono Activities

  • Active participant in the "Volunteer Attorney Project" Program

  • Designated neutral in the Western District of Missouri "Early Assessment Program"