Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

Google "Kristen Patty" to find other ways to contact me.

If you are like the majority of solo and small-firm lawyers practicing today, you have more than enough work to do and not enough time to do it. Your days are filled with court appearances, appointments and phone calls, so complex research and writing tasks (and not everyone likes to do them) get pushed to evenings and weekends, taking time away from family and other activities. I help other attorneys represent their own clients better by working as an independent contractor and taking some of these time-consuming tasks off their hands.

Research and writing is all I do because it is what I enjoy most about the practice of law - I'm not a natural trial lawyer. I decided to seek new challenges and redirect my career after eight years of handling a variety of matters in small towns in Kansas (over 400 new files opened in 1999!). During my third year in law school, I interned for the Hon. James A. Pusateri of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas in Topeka, then transitioned to a paid clerkship after graduation. I also spent a couple of years in private practice in Kansas City, handling mostly bankruptcy and probate matters.

I have argued cases before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Kansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and the Missouri Court of Appeals, and I authored the winning briefs leading to the following published decisions: State v. Horn, ___ Kan. ___, 206 P.3d 526 (No. 100,373, 5/8/2009); State v. Fitzgerald, 286 Kan. 1124, 192 P.3d 171 (2008); State v. Anderson, 281 Kan. 896, 136 P.3d 406 (2006); U.S. Postal Serv. v. Dewey Freight System, Inc., 31 F.3d 620 (8th Cir. 1994); and Boatmen's First Nat. Bank v. Hawkeye-Security Ins. Co., 861 S.W.2d 600 (Mo.App.W.D. 1993). While clerking for Judge Pusateri, I drafted his decision in In re Carter, 125 B.R. 832 (Bankr.D.Kan. 1991).

You get predictable and dependable assistance from an experienced attorney when you need it, without the overhead expenses when you don't. You maintain control of your case and keep the client you've worked hard to cultivate. I have the same duties under the Model Rules regarding confidentiality and avoiding conflicts of interest. If you "closely supervise" my work or adopt it as your own and pay me a flat or hourly fee, you may not need to disclose to your client that I am working on the case - or that I may not be admitted to practice in your jurisdiction. An ABA Ethics Opinion (No. 00-420) instructs that if the total fee charged to your client is reasonable, you may add a surcharge (i.e., profit) to any of my fees billed as legal services.

Of late, my practice mostly involves criminal defense, with some civil and domestic work. I work with attorneys at every litigation phase, from trial through appeal. Regarding most of the documents I've posted, the problem with being a legal ghostwriter - just like being a law clerk for a bankruptcy judge or an associate at a law firm - is that some of my best work does not appear under my own name. I have written for each of these attorneys on more than one occasion, and I expect that each would tell you that he or she makes minimal, if any, editing to my work.

"Ghostwriting" is my "dream job." My laptop, cell phone and wireless broadband service mean that I am rarely "out of the office," even when I'm on the road to Kansas Jayhawk basketball games! Call me and let's talk about what I can do for you.