Larry Bork began his work at Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer (GSEP) in 1989 as an Associate Attorney, back when the firm's namesakes were still actively practicing. One of his first mentors at the firm was Wayne Stratton. From Wayne, he says the biggest lesson he learned was that every litigator has their own style. Learn from everyone, but do it the way it feels right to you. Bork became a partner at GSEP in 1992.
Before becoming an attorney, Bork's first job was as a paper boy and then later painting office furniture for Western Electric and the Bell System in Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated from Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska in 1978, with degrees in biology, natural sciences and secondary education. He also played varsity basketball at Midland. As a graduate teaching assistant at Kansas State University, he focused on wildlife biology. He graduated from the Creighton University School of Law in 1983. While at Creighton, he served on the moot court board and authored a law review article on rights to groundwater. Bork was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Washburn University, teaching civil procedure in the paralegal curriculum from 1986 to 1989.
During his time at GSEP, Bork has practiced primarily in the areas of medical malpractice defense and insurance defense. In addition, Bork has devoted a significant amount of his career serving clients affected by flooding in Oklahoma. Bork was lead counsel for a class action suit filed in 1994 against Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) because Pensacola Dam and Grand Lake caused flood damage to property owned by more than 100 people, businesses and governmental entities. GRDA paid over $12.5 million in settlement and verdicts as a result of that lawsuit. Bork leads the efforts for additional lawsuits filed against GRDA in 2001 and 2008. Overall, he has recovered a total of more than $20 million on behalf of various plaintiffs, in multiple types of litigation. Bork also represents a national student loan lender in bankruptcy adversary proceedings throughout Kansas and the Western District of Missouri. He is licensed in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri.
Bork has acted as lead counsel in over 100 trials. His most memorable case is the GRDA litigation, which has been in every possible court – Oklahoma state district court, Court of Civil Appeals (multiple times) and Supreme Court, as well as Oklahoma federal district court, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court.
Outside of work, Bork has coached over 500 youth basketball games, 500 youth soccer games, and spent over 10,000 hours on a basketball court. Bork has made significant contributions to his community as well, having served as president of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Communities in Schools of Kansas, and Topeka Public Schools Foundation. Additionally, he has served on the boards of the Kansas Association of Defense Counsel, Sunflower Soccer Association, Topeka Round-Up Club, and the Topeka Active 20-30 Club, and is a member of the Topeka Lawyers Club and Kansas SOABS. He also participated in the Leadership Greater Topeka program.
Congratulations to Larry Bork on 30 fantastic years of service to GSEP and our clients.
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