About Joani
Joani Harshman earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law in 2000. She came to the study of law after undergraduate work and completed her degree at a time when the legal landscape in the Midwest was changing. Law school set the groundwork for a practice that spans both state and federal matters.
After passing the bar, she obtained admission to practice in Missouri and Kansas. She has also been admitted to the Eighth and Tenth U.S. Courts of Appeals, which allows her to handle matters beyond the trial court level. Those admissions have shaped the kinds of work she takes on and the clients she represents.
Her career has combined courtroom work and appellate practice. She has experience managing litigation through the various phases that courts require: pleadings, discovery, motions, trials and, where appropriate, appeals. That breadth means she moves cases from early stages through argument when necessary. Colleagues describe her as methodical in preparation and direct in court. She adapts legal strategy to the practical constraints clients face.
Harshman operates The Harshman Law Office LLC. The firm handles matters in both Missouri and Kansas courts, and coordinates filings in federal appellate courts when cases require that level of review. Running a small firm has required balancing client counseling with handling court deadlines and procedural requirements. She oversees case management and works with local counsel when matters extend across jurisdictional lines.
She keeps current on procedural developments in the circuits where she practices. Admissions to the Eighth and Tenth Circuits mean she files briefs and presents arguments where federal appellate review is necessary. That appellate work complements the trial practice and provides clients with continuity when disputes move beyond the district court.
Her professional life is centered on navigating disputes through the state and federal systems that serve Missouri and Kansas. She brings to each matter an emphasis on clear legal analysis and practical problem-solving. Her current practice focuses on litigation in Missouri and Kansas and on handling appeals in the Eighth and Tenth U.S. Courts of Appeals.
