Appellate Practice
Jonathan Sternberg
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2015
Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Jonathan Sternberg is an appellate lawyer based in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, representing businesses and individuals in civil and criminal appeals and related matters before state and federal courts nationwide. His practice is focused exclusively on appellate litigation, including briefing and arguing appeals and related actions and advising trial lawyers on procedural and strategic issues at all stages of a case. Since opening his practice upon his admission to the bar in 2007, Jonathan has served as counsel of record in more than 250 reported appellate decisions across a wide array of legal subjects. He has written over 475 appellate briefs and presented more than 200 appellate oral arguments, including 17 before the Supreme Court of Missouri. The total amount in controversy across all his cases exceeds $1 billion. He is admitted to all state and federal courts in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, as well as every federal appellate court in the United States. Jonathan has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for appellate practice every year since 2015, and by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers every year since 2014, including multiple selections to its "Top 100" and "Top 50 Kansas City" lists, often as the youngest lawyer named. He holds an AV Preeminent peer-review rating from Martindale-Hubbell (2012-present). Missouri Lawyers Media has included him on its "Power List" for appellate law since 2021 and its statewide "Top 100 Power List" since 2022, making Jonathan by far the youngest of only eleven people named to both of Missouri's major top 100 lawyer lists every year since 2012. Earlier in his career, he was the youngest person - and only solo practitioner - recognized as an "Up & Coming Lawyer" by Missouri Lawyers Weekly in 2009, and was named to the Kansas City Business Journal's "Best of the Bar" in 2013-2016.
Overview
- English
- French
- University of Missouri – Kansas City, Juris Doctor, graduated 2007
- University of Kansas, Bachelor of Arts, History, with honors, graduated 2003
- Missouri, 2007
- Kansas, 2013
- Illinois, 2019
- Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis - Member
- Supreme Court of Missouri Historical Society - President, 2023; President-Elect, 2022; Board of Trustees, 2016-2024
- Eighth Circuit Bar Association - CLE Committee, 2022
- Kansas Bar Association - Member
- Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association - Board of Directors, 2016; Section of Civil Litigation (President, 2016; President-Elect, 2015); CLE Advisory Committee, 2015-2016, 2020, 2022; Appellate Practice Committee (Chair, 2011-2014, 2017, 2023-2024; Vice-Chair, 2009-2011, 2020-2022, 2025)
- American Bar Association - Member
- The Missouri Bar - Appellate Practice Commitee (Co-Chair 2025-2026; Leadership Team 2024-2025); Civil Practice & Procedure Committee (Vice-Chair, 2012-2016)
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 2007
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 2007
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, 2008
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 2008
- U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, 2008
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2009
- Supreme Court of the United States, 2010
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2014
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, 2019
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 2019
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, 2019
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, 2019
- English
- French
- Missouri, 2007
- Kansas, 2013
- Illinois, 2019
- Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis - Member
- Supreme Court of Missouri Historical Society - President, 2023; President-Elect, 2022; Board of Trustees, 2016-2024
- Eighth Circuit Bar Association - CLE Committee, 2022
- Kansas Bar Association - Member
- Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association - Board of Directors, 2016; Section of Civil Litigation (President, 2016; President-Elect, 2015); CLE Advisory Committee, 2015-2016, 2020, 2022; Appellate Practice Committee (Chair, 2011-2014, 2017, 2023-2024; Vice-Chair, 2009-2011, 2020-2022, 2025)
- American Bar Association - Member
- The Missouri Bar - Appellate Practice Commitee (Co-Chair 2025-2026; Leadership Team 2024-2025); Civil Practice & Procedure Committee (Vice-Chair, 2012-2016)
- University of Missouri – Kansas City, Juris Doctor, graduated 2007
- University of Kansas, Bachelor of Arts, History, with honors, graduated 2003
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 2007
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 2007
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, 2008
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 2008
- U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, 2008
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2009
- Supreme Court of the United States, 2010
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2014
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, 2019
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 2019
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, 2019
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, 2019
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Appellate Practice
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Commercial Litigation
- Criminal Defense: General Practice
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Awards:
- "The Top 100 Power List," Missouri Lawyers Media, 2022-2024
- "The Power List: Appellate Attorneys," Missouri Lawyers Media, 2021-2025
- Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, 2020-present
- "Top 100," Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, 2016, 2019-2025
- "Top 50 Kansas City Lawyers," Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, 2016, 2019-2025
- Listed in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, 2014-2025
- "Best of the Bar," Kansas City Business Journal, 2013-2016
- Listed in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers "Rising Stars," 2010-2013
- Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell®, 2012-present
- Missouri Bar Leadership Academy, class of 2011
- "Up & Coming Lawyer," Missouri Lawyers Weekly, 2009
News & Media
Case History
Cases
- State ex rel. DKM Enters., Inc. v. Lett, 675 S.W.3d 687 (Mo. App. W.D. 2023)
Obtained writ ordering dismissal of wrongful death claim for lack of personal jurisdiction
- Molitor v. BNSF Ry. Co., 2022 IL App (1st) 121486 (2022)
Reversed exclusion of FELA toxic exposure plaintiff's expert witnesses and resulting defense summary judgment
- Nelson v. State, No. 124048 (Kan. App. 2022)
Reversed the denial of post-conviction relief in first-degree murder case for ineffective assistance of counsel
- Vallejo v. BNSF Ry. Co., No. 119100 (Kan. App. 2021)
Reversed $385,000 personal injury judgment against railroad, obtained judgment for railroad
- In re Luebbert, 987 F.3d 771 (8th Cir. 2021)
Upheld finding that debtor could not discharge $650,000 breach-of-contract judgment against him in bankruptcy
- Gonzales-McLinn v. State, No. 2019-cv-109 (District Court of Douglas County, Kan. 2021)
On post-conviction review, lowered first-degree murder sentence to 25-to-life, rather than 50-to-life
- Olofson v. Olofson, 625 S.W.3d 419 (Mo. banc 2021)
Reversed dismissal due to husband's death of wife's action to set aside divorce property division for fraud
- In re Purported Lien at Dist. at City Cent., LLC, 462 P.3d 181 (Kan. App. 2020)
Reversed judgment that had struck subcontractor’s bona fide $400,000 mechanic’s lien as "fraudulent"
- In re Marriage of Towle and LéGaré, 439 P.3d 327 (Kan. App. 2019)
Reversed posthumous legal separation
- Johnson v. CoreCivic, No. 18-8014 (8th Cir. 2019)
Defeated defendants’ requests to appeal class-action certification in Wiretap Act case
- Castleberry v. DeBrot, 369 P.3d 341 (Kan. 2018)
Upheld $900,000 medical malpractice verdict after five years of appellate litigation
- Combs v. Cordish Cos., 862 F.3d 671 (8th Cir. 2017)
Reversed summary judgment dismissing high-profile race-discrimination claim against entertainment district
- Doe v. Hughes, No. WD79064, 2016 WL 7364704 (Mo. App. W.D. Dec. 20, 2016)
Upheld $9 million judgment for mentally disabled woman who was raped by her caregiver’s husband
- In re Alternate Fuels, Inc., 789 F.3d 1139 (10th Cir. 2015)
Reversed denial of majority shareholder’s $3.8 million secured claim on corporation’s bankruptcy estate; held client’s loans could not be recharacterized as equity infusions and secured claim could not be equitably subordinated; required bankruptcy court to allow the $3.8 million claim as the only secured claim in the bankruptcy.
- March v. Midwest St. Louis, LLC, 417 S.W.3d 248 (Mo. banc 2014)
Restored grant of a new trial for a personal injury plaintiff that a lower appellate court had overturned
- D.R. Sherry Constr., Ltd. v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co., 316 S.W.3d 899 (Mo. banc 2010)
Restored policyholder’s $475,000 verdict against its insurer that a lower appellate court had overturned
- City of Kansas City v. Carlson, 292 S.W.3d 368 (Mo. App. 2009)
Questioned whether city could prohibit bars from allowing smoking indoors when state law permitted bars to do so; challenged the validity of municipal "smoking bans" across Missouri; joined by world's largest premium cigar manufacturer; covered extensively in the media, including the Wall Street Journal.
- Kinnaman-Carson v. Westport Ins. Corp., 283 S.W.3d 761 (Mo. banc 2009)
Required insurance company to pay injured couple their $1,700,000 judgment against its policyholder; turned client's total loss at trial into outright victory on appeal.
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