Brian Emerson Tadtman

Brian Tadtman is a trial-tested litigator who has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for six consecutive years, named to The National Trial Lawyers' 40 Under 40, and listed among America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators. He has been appointed to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in two national products-liability litigations and has secured multimillion-dollar recoveries for clients with catastrophic injuries, including traumatic brain injury claims against automobile manufacturers.

Today he brings that record to bear for businesses, property owners, associations, and individuals across Kansas and Missouri. He handles business and commercial disputes — breach of contract, business torts, fraud and misrepresentation claims, partnership and ownership disagreements, non-compete and trade secret matters, and creditor and collection actions — for closely held companies, family businesses, and individual owners.

A fourth-generation construction professional, Brian brings firsthand industry knowledge to construction matters, which run the full arc of a project dispute — defect and workmanship claims, contract and change-order disputes, payment and lien matters, and delay and scope disagreements — on behalf of owners, general contractors, subcontractors, and design professionals.

His real estate practice covers commercial and residential litigation of all kinds: purchase and sale disputes, landlord-tenant and lease disagreements, easement, access, boundary, and title matters, quiet title and declaratory judgment actions, and condominium and homeowners association work involving governing documents, assessments, and major repair and reconstruction projects.

He also handles personal injury, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death matters for both claimants and defendants, along with insurance coverage disputes and professional liability claims. He tries cases and resolves many matters before suit is ever filed.

"People come to me in the middle of something they didn't choose and can't see the end of. Getting them to a place where they understand what's happening and can make a decision about it — that's the part of this job that matters to me."

That work starts early. Brian pushes to establish the facts that will decide a case at the outset rather than discovering them on the eve of trial, and he tells clients plainly what he finds — including when the answer is that a claim is weaker than they believed or a defense will not hold. Clients who know where they stand can weigh cost against principle and choose their own course, which is a different thing from being carried along by a case.

He has built his career on both sides of the caption, defending claims and prosecuting them, often at the same time. That dual perspective is why his early assessments hold up: he knows how the other side builds a file because he builds the same file himself, and he can tell the difference between a case that should be tried and one that should be resolved in the first ninety days. The strategy that follows is built for the case a client actually has, not the one they hoped for.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome; every case is judged on its own merits. Ratings and honors are conferred by third-party organizations using their own criteria and are not a certification of specialization. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. Licensed in MO, KS, and CO.