WICHITA, Kan. – The American Collegiate Society for Adapted Athletics (ACSAA) has elected Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered attorney Jon McConnell to its Board of Directors. By organizing tournament competitions, ACSAA works with colleges and universities across the country to further competitive athletic opportunities for disabled college students.

ACSAA works frequently with the Intercollegiate Division of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association to sponsor tournaments. This fall, ACSAA will begin sponsoring wheelchair tennis tournaments, as well.

“We work with some amazing young athletes who have as much drive, skill and passion as any able-bodied athletes on any court,” McConnell said. “It’s a privilege for me to be part of this organization and help increase support for adapted athletics in all sports.”

McConnell was recently named among the National Trial Lawyers’ Top 40 Under 40 and is a member of the Wichita Business Journal 40 Under 40 Class of 2013. In addition to his criminal defense work, he is a tireless fundraiser and advocate for community organizations, including:

  • Temple Attorney for the Midian Shrine Temple, which helps raise money to support 22 Shriners Hospitals.

  • Board Member of American Collegiate Society for Adapted Athletics, an organization that furthers competitive athletic opportunities for disabled students at the college level through tournament competitions.

  • Campaign Manager for Austin Henry’s 2013 American Diabetes Association “Father of the Year Campaign”, which raised more than $20,000 for the local chapter of the American Diabetes Association.

  • First Runner-Up for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man of the Year 2012, which raised more than $21,000 for the cause.  McConnell organized six large events and a benefit “Rock The Cure” concert to raise money for the organization.

  • Hillside Christian Church, working with the High School Youth and the Property Committee.

“Jon is a gifted attorney who epitomizes tenacity, both as a trial lawyer defending persons accused of crime, and as an advocate for charitable organizations that better our community,” said Dan Monnat, President of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered. “We are proud of Jon for his legal accomplishments, as well as for his dedication to causes that enrich the lives of others.”

McConnell has both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Wichita State University, where he took several opportunities to study abroad.  Through a cooperative program between WSU and the New Scotland Yard, he studied international law in the United Kingdom.  He also studied Spanish and Mexican culture through the WSU Summer Program in Puebla, Mexico.

A graduate of St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, Fla., McConnell is a former law clerk for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida in Fort Lauderdale.

McConnell is licensed to practice before the federal and state courts in Kansas.  He is a member of the Wichita Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association and American Bar Association, as well as the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys and the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.

Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, was founded 28 years ago by Monnat and legal scholar Stan Spurrier.  The firm has six attorneys and focuses on criminal defense, white-collar criminal defense, and appellate defense in municipal, state and federal courts.