Jeffrey A. Burns

Jeffrey A. Burns is a renowned truck crash attorney and a partner at Dollar, Burns, Becker & Hershewe, L.C., serving a broad clientele from Kansas City and the surrounding metropolitan area in Missouri. With more than four decades of experience, he has assisted many clients with their cases and has won millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements. He has built a reputation for tirelessly reforming and changing the trucking industry to be safer, and majorly concentrates on cases of truck crashes, catastrophic events and personal injury. 

Besides a drive to influence the trucking industry for good, Mr. Burns has also spent his time working on enforcing stronger laws and educates the public about his complex practice areas by delivering scholarly lectures and writing articles. His main objective is to help trucking companies understand the significance of investing more in their safety programs, since it would ensure less litigation, consequently reassuring drivers to stay with their companies longer owing to the strongly enforced safety rules. 

With a B.S.E. summa cum laude from the Truman State University, Mr. Burns pursued his doctorate in jurisprudence at the University of Missouri School of Law, graduating with honors in 1983. Admitted to practice in the state of Missouri the same year he graduated, he now appears before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for 1st, 4th, 8th and 10th Circuits. He is fluent in English and Spanish, further highlighting his commitment to serving clients from diverse backgrounds.   

Recognized as one of the nation’s leading truck crash attorneys, Mr. Burns is peer-review rated AV Preeminent* through Martindale-Hubbell. He holds several leadership positions and memberships in prominent legal associations such as the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (member), the American Association for Justice (member), the American Bar Association (member), the Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City (former director), the Center for Truck Safety (former director), Parents Against Tired Truckers (board member and director), Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (board member and director), the Truck Litigation Group for the American Association for Justice (current member & former Chair, vice chair, treasurer and secretary) and many more. 

Mr. Burns has been acknowledged by many prestigious legal organizations for his efforts in helping clients get the compensation they deserve. He has been included in the National Trial Lawyers – Top 25 Motor Vehicle Attorneys in Missouri and the Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Attorneys in Missouri lists, and is a lifetime member of the National Registry of Who’s Who. Moreover, he has been the recipient of many esteemed awards, some of which are the Lifesaver Award from Parents Against Tired Truckers, the Unsung Hero Award from Missouri Lawyers Weekly and the Distinguished Service Award from the Truck Safety Coalition. 

*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer-review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.