(Kansas City Business Journal, February 3-9) When Richard Lombardo sold his founding stake in Shaffer Lombardo Shurin PC (SLS), it created something quite rare: a Kansas City-based majority woman owned defense firm.

Lombardo still works at the firm, but it is now majority owned by new Managing Partner Jennifer Price and shareholder Dawn Parsons. Audrey Danner, GMLC graduate of the Class of 2020, is now a partner.

Price spent her entire 22-year legal career at SLS with an emphasis in construction litigation. Parsons joined in 2015 after 24 years in the Jackson County prosecutor’s office and has expertise in criminal defense and medical malpractice. Danner has been selected as a 2022 Rising Star by Kansas City Magazine and has considerable litigation experience as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Missouri and as an Assistant County Counselor for Jackson County Missouri. Of the 14 lawyers at the firm, SLS has four female litigators and a goal to add more.

“I do not believe there are any other majority woman-owned defense firms in this area,” Parsons said. “Regardless of our practice area, there are very few majority women-owned law firms in Kansas City. I would like to see more women stay in the profession…we need more women to stay in law, achieve leadership and provide a ladder, for lack of a better term, to help pull up other women. That’s what I hope to do.”

You can reach Audrey and congratulate her on making partner at adanner@sls-law.com