Gary Edward Schaaf

Managing partner Gary Schaaf has been practicing law in Kentucky for more than 22
years, the last 19 of which have been devoted exclusively to representing individuals and family members of those injured or killed by the negligence of others.

Gary graduated from University of Louisville’s School of Business with honors, then attended University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law where he was on law review.  While still a full-time law student, Gary worked at an insurance defense firm and with Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Charles Leibson, considered a champion of the injured person’s right to a fair trial.  “Working with some of the brightest judges and lawyers while I was still in law school provided me the opportunity early in my career to see exactly how insurance companies operate, and how to hold them accountable when they treat people unfairly.”

Immediately after law school graduation, Gary began litigating cases throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, from Pikeville to Paducah.  “I was grateful that the firms I worked with allowed me to get in so many courtrooms straight out of law school. Nothing beats hands-on experience, and the best way to learn how to do something is by getting in there and mixing it up. I learned a lot of valuable lessons early in my career. Those lessons taught me how to try cases. With each success or failure, I learned the art of using the facts, the law, creativity, and common sense to help my clients. But at the end of the day I wanted a career helping people, real people, not insurance companies or big corporations.”

Gary soon began limiting his law practice to representing injured persons and their families, a practice which continues today.  He also occasionally performs pro bono work in other areas of the law.

Gary has extensive experience litigating auto, motorcycle and truck accidents, hospital neglect, river injuries, nursing home abuse and all manners of personal injury and wrongful death claims.  He is the past president of the Kentucky Justice Association, a group of 1,400 members/trial lawyers in Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is admitted to practice in all state courts in Kentucky and the United States District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Kentucky. Gary currently serves on the Board of Governors for the Kentucky Justice Association and is a longtime member of the McCracken County Bar Association, American Justice Association, Kentucky Justice Association, American Bar Association and the Million Dollars Advocates Forum (membership limited to attorneys who have won million and/or multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements).

Gary has been a frequent lecturer to other trial lawyers in the areas of workers’ rights, nursing home neglect, premises liability, and auto negligence. He has also been featured in the news numerous times on the subject of injured persons’ rights and the importance of protecting those rights and the right to trial by jury.  Gary has also testified before the Kentucky Legislature advocating for the rights of those who have been injured or killed due to the negligence of corporations.

In his free time, Gary enjoys spending time with his wife, Kristi, with whom he practices law and their two children. He is an avid waterfowl and upland bird hunter and enjoys almost any activity that gets him outdoors.