Maria represents companies in individual and complex product liability lawsuits and product recalls. She is experienced in all stages of litigation, including fact discovery, expert witness preparation, complex briefing, and trial. Maria has served on more than 11 trial teams and consistently achieves positive results for her clients, including resolving the case before trial or successfully defending smoking-and-health trials in Florida. She understands her clients’ businesses and goals and provides excellent legal strategy.
She has also handled multinational product recalls for a major US consumer goods manufacturer, including matters in Latin America, the Caribbean and Australia. She has fluent oral and written Spanish skills.
Maria provides outstanding service not only to her firm clients, but also to her community. She won the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association President’s Award in 2017. She was president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Greater Kansas City in 2011 and 2016, and she is an active member of the Hispanic National Bar Association. She also represents pro bono parents and children in Family Court and defendants in criminal cases through the Missouri Right to Counsel Coalition Project.
Additionally, Maria is the vice-chair of the board of directors for Citizens of the World Charter School Kansas City, a school that seeks to provide excellent public education focused on developing and demonstrating understanding while building connections within a diverse community. She is also on the board of directors of Visit KC (the entity that promotes Kansas City’s travel and tourism industry) and the Visit KC Foundation.
Recognizing her excellent contributions and promising future, her firm selected Maria to participate in the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity Fellows program in 2018 and nominated her for the MCCA Rising Stars Award.
She graduated with highest distinction from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in journalism and international studies. While studying at the University of Kansas School of Law, Maria won First Place Oralist at the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, was a Dean’s Fellow, and Law School Merit Scholar.
On her free time, Maria volunteers at her church as part of the diversity leadership team and the counting team, plays tennis, lifts weights, and attends live concerts.