Kristi Burmeister

I helped form PEAK for the same reason I became an attorney, I like solving problems and I’m not afraid to take risks or think outside the proverbial “box.” I am very fortunate to be surrounded by other lawyers at PEAK who feel the same. I grew up on a farm in rural Nebraska. For a short time, I even went to school in a one-room schoolhouse (seriously). I am also a triplet. From my early childhood, I loudly advocated for myself—how else do you get heard in a household with triplets, much less in a school where one teacher is teaching multiple grades at a time? I recall people telling me I should be an attorney and it stuck with me. After attending the University of Nebraska, I made my way to UMKC for law school. I graduated from UMKC with highest honors and was fortunate to be hired by Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP in 2007, where I was promoted to Partner seven years later. As an attorney at Shook, I spent most of my time working as national counsel for a Fortune 100 company dedicated to providing life-saving products and services. It was a great job and a great client. I worked on a flat-fee model, litigating all over the country. I immersed myself with the client’s business. I learned from some of the country’s best attorneys and even found myself sitting at trial counsel table at an early stage of my career (a rarity for a young, “Big Law” attorney). The client ultimately rewarded me for my hard work by allowing me to first-chair a jury trial notwithstanding my (relative) lack of “gray hair.” I am proud of my trial experience. And I love everything associated with a jury trial.