J. Scott Bertram
was born on June 23, 1948, in Springfield, Missouri. He has been married to Sue E. Bertram since 1976, and is the father of two children: Benjamin, and Blair. Scott Bertram graduated from Glendale High School in Springfield, Missouri in 1966.

Mr. Bertram graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from Missouri State University in 1971, and graduated from the University of Missouri at Kansas City Law School in 1974.

Between 1974 and 1977, Scott Bertram, interned at the Public Defender’s Office for Jackson County, Missouri and then worked as a staff attorney for the Legal Aid and Defender Society of Greater Kansas City until 1977, when he entered private practice. While working for Legal Aid, he tried over 1,000 non-jury trials in the Municipal Court of Kansas City, Missouri.

Since 1977, he has represented numerous clients in catastrophic injury and death cases involving pharmaceutical products liability, medical negligence, nursing home negligence, and other personal injuries. He has spoken both locally and nationally at seminars on pharmaceutical product liability litigation and medical malpractice.

He has contributed to several texts, including: Medical Malpractice in Missouri and Trial Advocacy in Missouri. He is a former Chairman of the Lawyers for Children Committee of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. One hundred percent of his practice is devoted to litigation.

He is a member of the American Association for Justice, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.

He has been selected as “The Best of the Bar” in personal injury/civil litigation by members of the local Kansas City bar in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

His hobbies include skiing, hiking, fitness training, and writing short stories and novellas. He is still working on “the great American novel.”

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Gregory C. Graf
was born in Forest Hills, New York, on August 25, 1958. Mr. Graf graduated from Indiana State University in 1980 and the University of Tulsa Law School in 1983, where he was an editor of the Law Review. He commenced his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney. He is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Colorado where he served in the Major Crimes Unit, the Rocky Mountain Organized Crime and Drug Task Force, and Appellate Divisions. He has numerous published opinions relating to his prosecutions of complex white-collar crime and computer fraud cases. He also serves as a mediator and special master in the state court system.

Mr. Graf was an Adjunct Professor with the Lester B. Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada where he taught international human rights law. He also teaches the law of armed conflict to members of the United Nations peacekeeping missions. He is a Colonel in the Colorado Air National Guard and is a combat mission ready F-16 pilot. He served as the Chief of Staff for Task Force West during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has also served as a staff judge advocate and military judge in the Colorado Air National Guard. As part of his duties, he was legal advisor to the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In that capacity, he was assigned to the investigation and prosecution of organized crime members and war criminals.

Mr. Graf is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association, Colorado Bar Association, Denver, Arapahoe and Douglas County Bar Associations. He holds the prestigious rating of an “AV” by Martindale Hubble, the highest rating that can be attained by an attorney.

Mr. Graf has focused his practice in the areas of complex criminal defense, civil litigation, and domestic relations.

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Benjamin A. Bertram
(“Ben”) was born in Kansas City, Missouri on May 15, 1978, and is the son of J. Scott Bertram.

Ben Bertram graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, in 2001, and received his J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law, Denver, Colorado, in 2004.

Ben Bertram is admitted to practice in the State of Missouri, and in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He is a member of the American Association for Justice, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys.

Ben Bertram focuses his practice in the areas of pharmaceutical product liability litigation, medical negligence, and nursing home abuse/negligence.

In addition to practicing law, Ben Bertram enjoys skiing, hiking, fitness training and mountain biking.

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Barry R. Bertram,
brother of J. Scott Bertram, graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 2006. Previously, he received a Masters of Business Administration from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri ( Wichita, KS campus) in 1993, and a Masters of Social Work in 1987 from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Mr. Bertram is licensed to practice law in both Kansas and Missouri.

While in law school, Barry Bertram was a judge in the UMKC School of Law Honor Court; past president of the UMKC Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity; interned for the Missouri State Public Defender, Jackson County office; and was a staff member of The Urban Lawyer law journal. He is a winner of community recognition awards for outstanding services to children and families in both Chicago, Illinois and Wichita, Kansas, and has been recognized for community volunteering by the United Way of the Plains, Wichita, Kansas.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Barry Bertram spent many years working as a social worker in Kansas City, Wichita, and Chicago. He worked with diverse populations, but with an emphasis on seriously emotionally disturbed children, community organizations, and persons with HIV/AIDS.

Barry Bertram is a member of the American Association for Justice, participating in the Nursing Home Litigation Group.

Barry Bertram is married, and enjoys walking his dogs, hiking, reading, music, transportation, and hockey. He also enjoys travel and has hiked the Himalayas in Nepal and has ridden bicycles along the coast of Holland.

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