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Brett Emison (JD ’02), has been named by Best Lawyers in America as the “Lawyer of the Year” for the Kansas City metro area in the category of product liability litigation for plaintiffs. Brett has been previously recognized by Best Lawyers for the past ten years in the categories of personal injury litigation for plaintiffs, products liability, and railroad. Brett’s Lawyer of the Year honor will be announced in the 2026 edition, which comes out at the end of this year.
Brett’s legal practice focuses almost exclusively on catastrophic injury and death cases, as well as mass torts and other complex tort cases, including automobile defects, railroad crossing accidents, trucking accidents, dangerous or defective drugs, and a variety of other cases. He practices in the Independence, Mo., office of Langdon & Emison, a premier plaintiff’s civil litigation firm. Brett regularly presents at seminars and other educational events teaching other attorneys the strategies learned in trials and cases across the country.
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review research and marketing company in the legal profession. It recognizes top legal talent through confidential evaluations by leading lawyers within their local market and specialty. This year’s awards featured record-breaking voter participation, highlighting the increasing importance of peer recognition within the legal community. More than 3.2 million evaluations were collected for the 31st edition.
As a partner at Langdon & Emison, Brett and his colleagues have tried cases across the country against some of the largest corporations in the world. He is a past president of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (2019-2020), serves on the American Association for Justice Board of Governors, and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and numerous other legal organizations. In his personal time Brett serves a number of charitable causes, including serving as co-chair of Starlight Theater’s $40 million capital improvement campaign.
During law school at the University of Missouri – Columbia, Brett served as Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Law Review and received Order of the Coif honors. Following graduation, Brett worked as judicial law clerk for the Honorable William Ray Price, Jr. of the Supreme Court of Missouri. He lives in Lee’s Summit, Mo., with his wife and family.
Langdon & Emison has represented catastrophically injured individuals and their families for close to 40 years. Recognized by Best Law Firms in America as a top personal injury firm for plaintiffs nationwide, we have earned approximately $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for our clients.