(816) 581-4393 mburge@countslawkc.com

Practice Areas

• Fiduciary Litigation
• Guardianships and Conservatorships
• Probate and Trust Appeals
• Contested Estates and Trusts
• Estate Planning
• Probate

Experience

• The Counts Law Firm, LLC
  Of Counsel, 2022 – Present
• Kirkland Woods & Martinsen, LLP
  Of Counsel, 2015 – 2022
• Burge Law, owner
• Smith Coonrod & Mohlman, of counsel
• Law Office of Michael Ong, PA, associate

Education

• University of Kansas City, Missouri, Juris Doctor, 2003
• Northwest Missouri State University, Journalism and Political Science Degrees, Minor in Biology, 1999

Bar Admissions

• Missouri
• Kansas

Professional Associations

• Missouri Bar Association
• Kansas Bar Association
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
• Association of Women Lawyers for Kansas City
• Kansas City Estate Planning Society

Speaking & Teaching

• Marriage, Divorce and Death: Impacts on Beneficiary Designations and Inheritance Rights, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association's Probate and Trust Litigation, with Rochelle Falk and Commissioner Amy DeGraeve
• Video Trials, Arkansas Bar Association Bench Bar with Brett Milbourn, 2021
• Video Trials, Johnson County Bar Association Bench Bar with Honorable Kris Jayaram, 2021
• Durable Powers of Attorney, Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas with Rochelle Falk, 2021
• Update on 618a Affidavits, Johnson County Bar Association Probate Bench Bar with the Honorable Michael P. Joyce and Heather Counts, 2016
• Ethical Issues in Representing Incapacitated Clients, Clay County Bar Association with Betsy Lynch of Lynch Sharp & Associates, 2019
• Recent Developments in Fiduciary Litigation — 13 cases, Missouri Annual Estate and Trust Institute, 2015
• Dead Bodies and the Right of Sepulcher, Johnson County Bar Association Probate Bench Bar with Stephanie Goodenow of Goodenow Law, 2014
• Essential Estate Planning Techniques, National Business Institute Speaker, 2013
• Drafting Effective Wills and Trusts, National Business Institute Speaker, 2013
• Navigating the Trust Process, Start to Finish, National Business Institute Speaker, 2010
• Estate Administration Procedures, National Business Institute Speaker, 2009
• Administering the Small Estate, National Business Institute Speaker, 2008
• Probate Process from Start to Finish, National Business Institute Speaker, 2007

Recent Distinctions

• Named on the 2022 Best Lawyers in America list
• Named as one of 53 'Best of the Bar' attorneys by the Kansas City Business Journal in 2019

Community Involvement

Michelle has devoted her community involvement over the last several years to her children's schools as a lunch lady, reader, coordinator of events, running programs, working with fundraisers and auctions, and speaking at programs sponsored by her parish and school. Additionally, she has coached or volunteered through the YMCA, parochial basketball and volleyball leagues, Missouri 3&2 baseball and is currently a third grade girls basketball coach.

Personal

Michelle is a Nebraska native and has lived in the Kansas City area since 1999. She has three active, busy, fun children who keep her in bleachers or stands most of the time watching their activities, but otherwise enjoys her friends, pets and being outside.

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Neither the Supreme Courts nor the Bars of Missouri or Kansas review or approve certifying organizations or specialist designations.