About Kristi
Kristi Burmeister earned her J.D. from the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law in 2004. She completed law school at a time when the practice was becoming more litigation-driven and entered the profession prepared for courtroom work. Her legal education included trial training that would resurface later in her professional development.
She joined Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP and rose there quickly. Records show she became a partner in 2007. She is licensed to practice in both Missouri and Kansas. Her credentials include graduation from the International Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy at Stanford University, a program aimed at trial skills for defense lawyers.
Burmeister’s career has been rooted in defense litigation and administrative proceedings. She has represented institutional clients in contested matters and has experience taking cases through trial. Her Trial Academy credential signals sustained work preparing for and conducting bench and jury trials, and colleagues describe her as methodical in case preparation and courtroom presentation.
Her public service includes an extended spell on the Kansas City Liquor Control Board of Review, where she served from 2012 to 2017. That role placed her in the middle of municipal and regulatory disputes and exposed her to administrative hearing processes. Since 2018 she has served on the board of the Kansas City Association of Women Lawyers, a role that has kept her active in the local bar and in mentoring newer lawyers.
Burmeister approaches cases with an emphasis on concrete results rather than rhetoric. She breaks complex legal problems into manageable parts. She favors clarity in filings and directness in oral argument. Those traits inform both her courtroom work and her management of teams on larger matters.
Outside of litigation she has participated in professional education programs and peer-learning groups. Her Trial Academy graduation at Stanford is one of several programs she has used to sharpen trial technique. She balances trial practice with administrative and regulatory work drawn from municipal and licensing contexts.
She is a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP and continues to practice defense litigation and administrative law matters.
