Jonathan Sternberg, Attorney, P.C.

10/03/2026

Yesterday, the Kansas Court of Appeals reversed the judgment against our client in a dispute over the dissolution of a longtime farming partnership and sent the case back with directions to apply Kansas's partnership statutes. The trial court had divided the partnership’s machinery and equipment based largely on equity, without applying the statutory rules governing partnership property, liabilities, capital accounts, and winding up. The Court of Appeals agreed with us that because the parties had no written partnership agreement, Kansas law required the trial court to apply the statutes and their framework. This was the best possible result for our client on appeal. The case is Betts v. Keenan, No. 128345.

10/03/2026

Coverage from Missouri Lawyers Media of our recent win in Jennings v. Miner in the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District

A Missouri appeals court revived an inheritance interference claim over an equity account but ruled the disinherited son lacked standing to reform trusts.

10/03/2026

On September 22, the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of nearly all claims against our client in a case about the administration of her parents' trusts. The plaintiff, our client's brother, claimed he should have received additional trust and estate assets and sought to reform or modify the trusts, recover for alleged breaches of the trusts and fiduciary duties, and pursue a tort claim for interference with an expected inheritance. The Court of Appeals agreed with us that as he was not a beneficiary, he lacked standing to seek modification or reformation of the trusts, and it affirmed dismissal of the related trust and fiduciary duty claims. It reversed only as to a narrow alternative tort claim concerning one stock account, allowing that claim to proceed at this early stage. The case is Jennings v. Miner, No. WD88464.

Access to any Missouri judicial website, including but not limited to Case.net, by a site data scraper or any similar software intended to discover and extract data from a website through automated, repetitive querying for the purpose of collecting such data is expressly prohibited. Technical Inform...

08/20/2026

For the 13th year in a row, Jonathan Sternberg has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© for appellate practice. Selection is based on the votes of over 50,000 leading attorneys on the abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas and comprises only 4% of attorneys nationwide. This year, Jonathan is one of only nine attorneys listed for appellate practice in Kansas City, Missouri, and one of 46 selected statewide.

Jonathan Sternberg is a Appellate Practice attorney in Kansas City, MO. Read Jonathan Sternberg's profile to learn more about them and discover their Best Lawyers rankings.

08/20/2026

Jonathan Sternberg has been named one of Missouri Lawyers Media's 2026 KC Legal Leaders. The recognition honors attorneys and legal professionals who are shaping the Kansas City legal community through leadership, professional excellence, innovation, mentorship, and meaningful contributions to their clients, colleagues, and communities. Missouri Lawyers Media describes the honorees as individuals whose dedication and vision continue to elevate Kansas City’s legal profession.

The Kansas City Legal Leaders awards honor the innovations of firms in the Kansas City area that are working on precedent-setting, game-changing practices and initiatives.

08/20/2026

Coverage of our recent win in Carter v. Curators of the University of Missouri from Missouri Lawyers Media

Missouri appeals court revives two breach-of-contract claims from a former UMKC student challenging how the university calculated his science GPA.

08/20/2026

On August 4, the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of part of our client's breach of contract case against the University of Missouri and sent the case back for further proceedings. Our client alleged that, after UMKC required him to enter an alternate curriculum in its six-year B.A./M.D. program, the University promised that repeated science courses and additional biology courses would be counted in calculating his science GPA, but it later refused to count them as promised. The Court of Appeals agreed with us that those allegations identified specific, enforceable contractual promises rather than merely general or aspirational university policies. It also agreed that those claims were timely because our client couldn't have known the University would refuse to honor those promises until he was notified in 2013. The Court allowed the two GPA-related claims to proceed. The case is Carter v. Curators of the University of Missouri, No. WD87975.

Access to any Missouri judicial website, including but not limited to Case.net, by a site data scraper or any similar software intended to discover and extract data from a website through automated, repetitive querying for the purpose of collecting such data is expressly prohibited. Technical Inform...

06/18/2026

Today, the Kansas Court of Appeals reversed all 17 of our client's convictions for violating a "protection from abuse" order based on communications he sent to the protected party and ordered a new trial. The Court agreed with us that the district court abused its discretion by denying our client's request for a bill of particulars, which would have required the prosecution to identify the specific messages on which it relied in charging him. Because the prosecution brought the charges based on hundreds of communications exchanged over a year, the Court agreed with us that our client was improperly left guessing which messages allegedly constituted crimes and how the prosecution claimed they violated the order. The case is State v. Bee, No. 128,336.

06/02/2026

Today, the Supreme Court of Missouri agreed to transfer a land use appeal on Jonathan Sternberg's application. The case concerns a claimed prescriptive easement over private property in Kansas City, which the property owner challenges. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, did not reach the merits and instead dismissed the appeal, holding that an amended judgment was void because it was electronically filed three minutes after an order denying a post-judgment motion. The Supreme Court will now rehear the appeal. Jonathan previously has argued 17 cases before the Supreme Court. The case is 200 W Armour Boulevard, LLC v. Judson, No. SC101621.

04/25/2026

We are excited to announce that Bill Madden has joined us as our newest associate attorney. Bill received his law degree from the University of Kansas in 2017, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class, and received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 2008. He previously practiced as a litigation attorney for several different firms, including a large national firm, handling complex civil matters across the country. Welcome, Bill!

Appellate lawyer in Kansas City & St. Louis, Missouri, representing businesses and individuals in civil and criminal appeals and related matters nationwide.