Seven attorneys from Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC have been honored by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers 2017, including three selected to the prestigious “Rising Stars” list. Fewer than 5 percent of all attorneys are selected as Super Lawyers.
Christopher M. Joseph (Topeka/Lawrence) is the firm’s managing member. His practice focuses on the defense of individuals and businesses under investigation for, or charged with, criminal misconduct in state and federal court. His practice also includes complex civil litigation and defending professional licensure. A graduate of Wichita State University and the University of Kansas School of Law, Christopher Joseph is admitted to practice in both Kansas and the Western District of Missouri.
Ross A. Hollander (Wichita) is chair of the firm’s Civil Litigation and Employment Law Division. Hollander has practiced management employment law and commercial law for more than 40 years. He is a Past President of numerous bar organizations, including the Wichita Bar Association, the Employment Law Section of the Kansas Bar Association, and the Wesley E. Brown Inn of Court. Hollander is a graduate of Wichita State University and the University of Kansas School of Law. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Friends University Master’s Program, teaching Management Labor Relations.
Kristine Lawless (Topeka) has extensive experience in complex federal and state criminal cases, including appeals. Her primary practice focuses on family law, and she is certified by the Kansas Supreme Court to perform mediation in domestic cases. Before joining the firm in 1999, Lawless was Chief of the Northeast Kansas Conflicts Office, and served as an Assistant Appellate Defender and Public Defender in Shawnee County. A graduate of Wichita State University, Lawless earned her J.D. at Washburn University School of Law. She has been an adjunct professor for the law school and has served as Judge Pro Tem in the Shawnee County District Court.
Dionne M. Scherff (Overland Park/Kansas City) is an experienced litigator and one of only a handful of lawyers qualified by Kansas to handle death penalty cases. She is one of only two lawyers in Kansas’ history of death penalty cases to get a capital case dismissed. As a former Assistant District Attorney for Wyandotte County and later as an Assistant District Attorney for Johnson County, Scherff prosecuted sex abuse and child abuse cases. Today her criminal defense practice represents clients charged with first degree murder, bank robbery, drug distribution, mortgage fraud, aggravated kidnapping, rape, aggravated indecent liberties, aggravated battery, stalking, electronic solicitation, DUI and juvenile matters.
Scherff received her juris doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law, where she now serves as an adjunct professor. Scherff is a Master of the American Inns of Court, Earl E. O’Connor Chapter, and is a member of the Johnson County Bar Association, Wyandotte County Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association and Kansas City Missouri Bar Association, and the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Listed as Super Lawyers Rising Stars:
Michelle Moe Witte (Wichita) is a trial lawyer with an emphasis in labor and employment law and general civil litigation. She is a Litigation Counsel of America Fellow and current Secretary of the Wesley E. Brown American Inns of Court. Witte recently completed a term on the Wichita Bar Association’s Board of Governors and is a past recipient of the organization’s President’s Award. Witte is a graduate of Wichita State University and Washburn University School of Law. She is President-Elect of Music Theatre of Wichita Board of Directors.
Casey Y. Meek (Lawrence) focuses his practice on DUI and drug crimes. A graduate of the University of Kansas and the University of Kansas School of Law, Meek is admitted to practice in Kansas state and federal courts, Missouri state courts, and the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He is a member of the National College for DUI Defense, Kansas Bar Association, Douglas County Bar Association, and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Diane L. Bellquist (Topeka) is a former Assistant General Counsel for the Kansas Board of Healing Arts and former General Counsel to the Office of the State Bank Commissioner. She has extensive experience with healthcare, financial licensing and regulatory laws. Her practice focuses on the defense of licensed individuals and entities before their respective regulatory boards.
Bellquist is President-Elect of the Topeka Bar Association and a Past President of both the TBA’s Young Lawyers’ Division and the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka. Bellquist received her J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law and holds an attorney certification from the Federation of Associations of Regulatory Boards. With 14 years of military service, she holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel with the Kansas Air National Guard Air Refueling Wing.
Joseph, Hollander & Craft has 16 lawyers and offices in Overland Park/Kansas City, Lawrence, Topeka and Wichita. The firm’s primary practice areas include civil litigation, commercial law, complex criminal defense, DUI defense, employment law, family law, and professional disciplinary defense.