​Areas of Practice

•  Fiduciary Litigation​
• Probate & Estate Administration 

​Education
University of Nevada-Las Vegas (2004)

• B.A. in English Literature

University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law (2008), ​summa cum laude

• J.D.
• Editor-in-Chief of the UMKC Law Review
• Teaching assistant for the Legal Writing Program
• Student clerk to the Hon. Scott O. Wright of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Bar Admissions

• Missouri
• Kansas
• United States District Court for the District of Kansas
• United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
• United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Sixth Circuits

Experience
Aaron represents individual and corporate clients in various matters involving fiduciary litigation and administration throughout Missouri and Kansas.  Aaron has tried multiple family disputes, including trust contests and, most recently, a dispute involving Missouri’s Right of Sepulcher statute. 
 
Aaron has also handled appeals in Kansas and Missouri appellate courts in matters involving no-contest clauses, powers of attorney, trust administration, breach of fiduciary duty, and the title to transferred property.
 
Before joining Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP in 2017, Aaron was an attorney at Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP where he defended companies in individual and complex litigation throughout the United States.

Presentations and Publications

• “Border War! Differences in Missouri and Kansas Probate and Trust Litigation,” Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (Kansas City, MO), September 12, 2024
• "Swift Gifts & Other Taylor Topics," Earl E. O'Connor American Inn of Court (Overland Park, Kansas), April 10, 2024
• "So You Have Been Subpoenaed . . . .," Kansas City Estate Planning Society (Mission Hills, Kansas), March 21, 2024
• “The Plan of Attack to Attack the Plan,” Kansas City Estate Planning Symposium Intermediate Estate Planning (UMKC Law School), January 19, 2024
• “The Do’s and Don’ts of Expert Witness Testimony in Probate Cases,” Missouri Bar Annual Meeting (virtual), September 22, 2021
• "Estate Planning for the Feuding Family," The Missouri Bar's Annual Estate, Trust & Elder Law Conference (St. Louis, MO), September 6, 2018.
• “Best Practices for Defeating Attempts to Void Contracts,” Law360, October 23, 2017
• “Using Contract Provisions Shortening the Time to Sue,” Law360, September 21, 2015
• "Enforcing Exculpatory Provisions in Contract Cases Involving Fraud-Based and Gross-Negligence Claims," Shook, Hardy & Bacon's 11th Annual Update of the Law (Kansas City, MO), June 25, 2014
• “Enforcing Exculpatory Provisions Against Meritless Claims,” Law360, March 17, 2014
• “Maximize Your Contract's Exculpatory Provisions,” Law360, July 15, 2013
• “Federal Courts Retain Jurisdiction over Individual Claims after Removal of Mass Action,” ABA - Mass Torts Litigation, Fall/Winter 2009
• “You Got Fired? On Your Day Off!?:  Challenging Termination of Employees for Personal Blogging Practices,” UMKC Law Review, Winter 2007​

Distinctions

• Graduate, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Heart of America Fellows Institute
• Selected for inclusion in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, 2020-2023
• Named a “Rising Star” by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, 2014-2018
• Recognized by Best Lawyers in 2024 in the practice area of Trusts and Estates Litigation
• Recognized as a “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers for Litigation – Trusts and Estates in Kansas City in 2025

Affiliations

• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
• Johnson County Bar Association
• Earl E. O’Connor American Inn of Court
• Estate, Trust, & Elder Law Institute Planning Committee
• Estate Planning Society of Kansas City

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