A Personal Injury Law Firm

Denise Henning and Stephen Bough share similar backgrounds.   Both grew up in small towns, both excelled in law school.  Following law school graduation, Denise worked for a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals and Steve worked for a judge on the federal trial bench.  After their respective clerkships, both became active with trial firms and became leaders in bar activities.  It is from these similar backgrounds that Denise and Steve have built a legal practice dedicated to aggressively representing their clients and promoting open, honest communication and compassion for the difficulties their clients face.

About Denise Henning

Denise Henning represents plaintiffs who have been victims of personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, and transportation-related injuries.

Denise began her legal career clerking for the Honorable Patricia Breckenridge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. She then entered private practice and devoted her practice exclusively to trials of civil cases where she has consistently won verdicts and negotiated settlements for victims of personal tragedies. In March 2005, Denise and her partner, Steve Bough, won an $8 million verdict against a California trucking company whose driver ran over a 23-year-old man on 50 Highway near Lone Jack, Missouri . In 1998, Denise secured the sixth highest settlement in Missouri , $2.25 million, for a case involving a truck accident. Denise was part of the legal team that sued American Airlines and secured a confidential settlement on behalf of crash survivor Mercedes Ramirez and her family after a 1996 crash in Cali , Colombia that killed 160 people, including Mercedes' parents.

Denise was chosen as one of five Up and Coming Lawyers by Missouri Lawyers Weekly in 1999. The Missouri Bar Foundation awarded Denise the Lon O. Hocker Award in 2002, which is given in recognition of outstanding trial skills. Denise was named by the Kansas City Business Journal as one of the “Best of the Bar” in Kansas City in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. Denise has received the Association for Women Lawyers’ President's Award twice and was named the Association for Women Lawyers “Woman of the Year” in 2004.

Denise graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois School of Law (J.D., 1992) and summa cum laude from Doane College (B.A., 1988). She is a member of the Missouri Bar and the Kansas Bar.

Denise is a past president of the Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City. She serves on the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys Board of Governors and was the Chair of the Continuing Legal Education Committee in 2003 and 2004. Denise is the chairperson of the Missouri Bar’s Tort Law Committee. Denise is a member of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the American Trial Lawyers Association.

Denise is a past president of the Board of Directors of Sheffield Place, a local long-term transitional living facility and educational program for homeless women and their children. She also on the board of directors of the Women's Intersport Network of Kansas City.

About Steve Bough

Stephen R. Bough grew up in Republic, Missouri and attended Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University), where he met his wife, Andrea. After completing law school at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the UMKC Law Review, Steve served as a law clerk to United States District Court Judge Scott O. Wright.

Steve has dedicated his practice to the representation of injured people. That representation comes in many forms, such as personal injury suits, product liability claims, medical malpractice lawsuits and class action litigation. Steve is active in numerous bar organizations, serving as the President of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Young Lawyers Section and with the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys as the chair of the New Lawyers Committee and on the MATA Board of Governors.

Steve serves as an adjunct professor at UMKC Law School, teaching the course of "Federal Jurisdiction" and "Trial Advocacy II."  Additionally, he serves on the Professor Robert Downs Scholarship Committee, an endowed scholarship at the UMKC Law School.  Steve has been the President of the UMKC Law Alumni Association and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the UMKC Law Foundation. He is also a graduate of the FBI's Citizen Academy.

Due to his community involvement, Steve has won many awards, including twice receiving the KCMBA Young Lawyers President's Award, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's "Kansas City's Finest Young Professionals" award, Ingram's Magazine's "40 Under 40" designation, MS Corporate Achiever and has been honored twice with a resolution by the Missouri House of Representatives for accomplishments in the legal field and for public service projects. He has also received the American Trial Lawyers Association "Making it Happen" award, the Daily Record's "Legal Leader of the Year" designation, Missouri Lawyer's Weekly "Up and Coming Lawyers" award and the Kansas City Business Journal's "Best of the Bar" designation.

The Missouri Bar Foundation presents awards to individuals who have helped improve the state's justice system. The most prestigious award for trial advocacy in the state is the Lon O. Hocker Award. The award is given annually to a lawyer who has demonstrated unusual proficiency in the art of trial advocacy. Steve was honored to receive this award in 2005, especially due to the fact that there is no other law firm in Missouri where all the lawyers have been awarded this great honor. Steve's law partner, Denise Henning, received the Lon O. Hocker Award in 2002.

Speaking at Continuing Legal Education seminars and writhing for legal journals is an important part of the practice of law.  Steve has addressed lawyers in both of these areas for 

•  The Missouri Bar
•  KCMBA
•  Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys
•  Missouri Bar Trial Institute
•  The Daily Record
•  Missouri Bar Journal 
•  Missouri Lawyers Weekly