Joe Patton

Joe is the Senior partner and founder of the law firm in 1981, and is in the practice with his son, Mike.  Joe is a former Member of the Kansas House of Representatives. 

With a Degree Political Science Washburn University  and a 1977 Juris Doctor degree from Washburn University School of Law, Joe is an experienced litigator in both State Court and Federal Court as well as in  Administrative Proceedings. He was admitted to practice before the Kansas Supreme Court in 1977 and  before the Missouri Supreme Court in 2014. He was admitted to practice before the United States of America Federal District Court in 1977.

• Speaker and lecturer at Continuing Legal Education seminars.
• Member Topeka Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, and Christian Legal Society..
• Past President, Safe Streets, Advisory Board organizing neighborhoods for the prevention of violent crime and member of the Safe Streets coalition.
• Kansas Elder Law Hotline Volunteer, providing senior citizens access to an attorney.
• Former member Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, Legislative Committee.
• Former member Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, Former member of Topeka Partnership for Quality.
• Former member of Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee of Chamber of Commerce, Go Topeka.
• NFIB: National Federation of Independent Business: The Voice of Small Business.
• Former member of Topeka Corporate Volunteer Council.
• Former member of Volunteer Center of Topeka, Inc. Board of Directors.
• President of the Downtown Topeka Optimist Club.
• Vice President of the NetReach, an effort to address the causes of Homelessness, Hunger, Poverty and Crime.

Community Service:

• Recipient of the Big Heart Award for Telethon Executive Lock-up to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, 1999.
• Past member of the Board of Directors of Community of One, which works to identify and address barriers to fellowship within our culturally diverse community.
• City of Character Sponsor.
• Past member of the Board of Directors, Topeka City of Character.
• During the year 2000, hosted a radio program on local radio KBUZ dealing with race relations and similar issues.
• Past member of the Board of Directors of El Shaddai Ministries, Inc., which operates a food and clothing outreach center.
• Steering Committee of Jobs Partnership, a mentoring program to create jobs for individuals coming off government assistance.
• Senior partner and founder of the law firm.
• Former member of the Police Citizen Advisory Committee, City of Topeka
• Business Watch, a crime prevention organization of Business men and women.
• Attended "Where We're At and Where We're Going" conference, a community assessment of Topeka's approach to reducing crime, November 8th, 2000, Topeka, Kansas.
• Attended Koch Crime Institute conference, Topeka, Kansas.
• Prevention and Recovery Services Shawnee County Methamphetamine Awareness Project Workshop: Current Trends and Community Prevention Approaches, May 2003.
• Former little league soccer coach, Sunflower Soccer Association.
• Past President of the Downtown Optimist Club, organizing Fighting Childhood Cancer lunch benefit.
• Past member of the Board of Directors of Netreach, an organization to reduce homelessness and poverty, by helping to initiate and sustain transformation in one of Topeka’s more challenged and impoverished neighborhoods, Hi-Crest.
• Volunteer as a mentor with the Netreach Group.

• As a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives Joe served as Vice Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Vice Chairman of the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee, served on the House Health and Human Services Committee, and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations and Chair of the State Claims Committee.