• Dec 05, 2024

WICHITA – Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered attorney Eli O’Brien has been named to the prestigious list of 2024 Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars for the fourth straight year. The list annually highlights the region’s top attorneys under 40 years of age, selecting only 2.5 percent of those eligible.

O’Brien has been an associate with the firm since 2017, defending serious felony accusations and DUI/DWI cases statewide.

Prior to joining the firm, O’Brien was a trial attorney with the Sedgwick County Public Defender’s Office. As both a public defender and private practice defense attorney, his jury trials have resulted in multiple acquittals.

A graduate of Washburn University School of Law and the National Criminal Defense College Trial Practice Institute, O’Brien also holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Emporia State University.

  • Nov 12, 2024

WICHITA – Criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, has been recognized again on the Top 100 List of Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers for 2024. This is Monnat’s 19th year to be named to this prestigious list of the region’s top attorneys.

Practicing for nearly 50 years, Monnat has built a national reputation for high-stakes criminal defense, white-collar criminal defense, appellate defense and bet-the-company litigation. His cases have garnered major media attention for the defense and acquittal of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller; the defense of an innocent man wrongly accused of being the notorious BTK; and acquittals and exonerations of clients in shaken baby murder and other murder, sex and white-collar prosecutions.

“The Top 100 Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers are selected from among thousands of attorneys across every practice area of the law,” said Monnat. “I am honored to be included among this tremendously talented group, and particularly proud to stand with those in criminal defense who work tirelessly to ensure the Constitutional rights of those accused.”

A graduate of California State University, Monnat earned a Juris Doctorate from Creighton University School of Law and is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College.

Monnat is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation, and the Kansas Bar Foundation. He is a Life Member and past Board Member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, as well as a two-term past president of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Monnat also currently sits on the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association’s Board of Editors and is the Criminal Law Chair.

A frequent national lecturer with NACDL and a KTLA editorial contributor on criminal defense topics, Monnat is the co-author of “Sentencing, Probation, and Collateral Consequences,” a chapter of the Kansas Bar Association’s Kansas Criminal Law Handbook, 5th edition.

Monnat & Spurrier was founded in 1985 by Monnat and legal scholar Stan Spurrier. Today the firm has four lawyers and has earned a reputation for its work in all sectors of criminal defense, white-collar criminal defense, and criminal appeals.

  • Nov 07, 2024

WICHITA – Best Lawyers®, the oldest purely peer review research and accolades company in the legal profession, today announced it has awarded Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, with five “Best Law Firms 2025” metropolitan rankings in the sectors of:

  • General Practice Criminal Defense
  • White-Collar Criminal Defense
  • Appellate Practice
  • DUI/DWI Defense
  • Bet-the-Company Litigation

Each year, Best Lawyers evaluates nearly 25,000 firms across America, ranking them in categories including experience, responsiveness and civility. Clients and attorneys in like practice areas are also surveyed, with this included in determining the rankings.

“We are sincerely gratified by the praise bestowed on our firm by clients and fellow members of the bar,” said Dan Monnat. “Protecting the constitutional rights of those accused is one of the greatest callings of the law and we are honored to do such work every single day.”

The Monnat & Spurrier firm, founded by criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat and legal scholar Stan Spurrier, enters its 40th year in 2025. The firm has gained a reputation for its successful defense of such high-profile clients as late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller; the unfortunate innocent person whose home was mistakenly raided by police as being that of serial killer BTK; and most recently, the Western Kansas man wrongly accused of murdering a four-year-old child by cruelly beating or shaking her.

In addition to Monnat and Spurrier, the firm includes associates Eli O’Brien and Braxton Eck.

  • Oct 02, 2024

WICHITA, Kansas — The 2024 edition of Lexology Index/Who’s Who Legal: Business Crime Defense has named Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, one of the world’s leading business crime defense attorneys for both individuals and corporations. This year’s list honors fewer than 950 exceptional litigators from among 39 countries worldwide. Who’s Who focuses on an international list of lawyers with expertise in representing companies and individuals involved in white-collar criminal litigation.

Who’s Who interviews both clients and legal peers to select the world’s top trial lawyers in white-collar criminal defense. It also highlights select “Thought Leaders” in the field – including Monnat – for their skill with cutting-edge matters and ability to innovate and inspire others in the legal field.

“Our goal is always to be victorious in the courtroom and protect the rights of our clients, and I’m honored that Who’s Who recognizes that passion,” Monnat said. “Equally important, I’m pleased that our firm has earned a reputation for fostering innovation and inspiring others within the legal profession, not only inside the courtroom, but through our featured presentations at legal conferences around the country.”

Monnat has practiced for more than 45 years, handling criminal and white-collar criminal cases that have attracted international attention, including the defense of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.

Monnat is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation, and the Kansas Bar Foundation. He was one of the Top 10 Super Lawyers in Kansas and Missouri from 2018 – 2022 and has been included on the Super Lawyers Top 100 list for 20 years.

A graduate of California State University, Monnat received his J.D. from Creighton University School of Law and is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College.

A national lecturer and editorial contributor on criminal defense topics, Monnat is a frequent speaker for conferences hosted by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and other professional groups. He currently sits on the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association’s Board of Editors.

Monnat served as a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Board of Directors from 1996 – 2004, and is a two-term past president of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

  • Aug 23, 2024
  • KWCH TV
  • -
  • by The Associated Press and Cale Chapman

WICHITA, Kan — A federal judge in Kansas has tossed out a machine gun possession charge and questioned if bans on the weapons violate the Second Amendment.

If upheld on appeal, the ruling by U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes in Wichita could have a sweeping impact on the regulation of machine guns, including homemade automatic weapons that many police and prosecutors blame for fueling gun violence.

Broomes, an appointee of President Donald Trump, on Wednesday dismissed two machine gun possession counts against Tamori Morgan, who was indicted last year. Morgan was accused of possessing a model AM-15 .300-caliber machine gun and a machine gun conversion device known as a “Glock switch” that can make a semi-automatic weapon fire like a machine gun.

“The court finds that the Second Amendment applies to the weapons charged because they are ‘bearable arms’ within the original meaning of the amendment,” Broomes wrote. He added that the government “has the burden to show that the regulation is consistent with this nation’s historical firearm regulation tradition.”

As of Friday, no appeal had been filed. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Wichita declined comment.

“The Glock switch has been illegal since 1986 for any civilians to own it. Outside of military and law-enforcement, it was illegal. This new case that has occurred has kind of set a new precedent in that regard,” said Josh Bowler, manager at The Bullet Stop in Wichita.

Bowers said Glock switches are also deadly.

“Spray and pray, you’re putting a lot of rounds down range, a lot of lead down range and you lose control. Accuracy is just not there, semiautomatic is going to be a lot more controlled, a lot more accurate,” he said.

Federal prosecutors in the case said in earlier court filings that the “Supreme Court has made clear that regulations of machineguns fall outside the Second Amendment.”

A June 2022 Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen was seen as a major expansion of gun rights. The ruling said Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

Jacob Charles, an associate law professor at Pepperdine University who tracks Second Amendment cases, said the Kansas ruling is direct fallout from the Bruen decision.

“It gives lower court judges the ability to pick and choose the historical record in a way that they think the Second Amendment should be read,” Charles said.

Charles expects Broomes’ ruling to be overturned, citing Supreme Court precedent allowing for
regulation of machine guns.

Defense Attorney Dan Monnat who is not associated with the Wichita case, said moving forward, others charged with possession will try to use this ruling to their benefit.

“I presume everybody accused of possessing machine guns will use this case as precedent to contend that the cases can’t be prosecuted,” he said.

But he said this case is not yet settled law.

“No, unless double jeopardy attaches, the government can appeal this case to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals or ask for review in the United States Supreme Court,” Monnat said.

Communities across the U.S. have dealt with a surge of shootings carried out with weapons converted to fully automatic in recent years. These weapons are typically converted using small pieces of metal made with a 3D printer or ordered online.

Guns with conversion devices have been used in several mass shootings, including one that left four dead at a Sweet Sixteen party in Alabama last year and another that left six people dead in a bar district in Sacramento, California, in 2022. In Houston, police officer William Jeffrey died in 2021 after being shot with a converted gun while serving a warrant.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported a 570% increase in the number of conversion devices collected by police departments between 2017 and 2021, the most recent data available, the Associated Press reported in March.

See full story at KWCH.com

  • Aug 16, 2024
  • KWCH TV
  • -
  • by Brock Wilson

AUGUSTA, Kan. — Questions still linger after two Augusta teens arrested in connection to the murder of 93-year-old Joanne Johnson. There are a lot of factors that go into whether prosecutors will attempt to try the suspects in this murder case as adults. The real question is, how realistic is it? And, how realistic is it they will succeed?

Wichita attorney Dan Monnat says prosecutors will have to jump through a lot of hoops. First, Monnat says it is important to remember that juveniles are not adults. Only in extreme cases will a prosecutor ask a judge to treat a child as an adult.

“In that circumstance, the prosecutor has to file a motion and the judge has to find by the greater weight of the evidence that the community will be better served by the child being treated as an adult,” Monnat said.

There are several key factors for a judge to consider when making that decision, including the
seriousness of the crime.

“Whether the offense is against a person or a piece of property, whether the offense is committed in an extremely aggressive, violent or premeditated way,” Monnat said.

The judge will also consider the juvenile’s homelife and upbringing and their mental status.

But will that happen? It’s hard to know.

“Not every case is the same. Not every murder case is the same,” Monnat says. “I don’t think there is any way we could generalize to say that yes, fair-minded, wise prosecutors always seek an adult prosecution where a juvenile is arrested or accused of murder.”

Monnat says that if the suspects are tried as adults they could face life in prison. However, if they are tried as juveniles, they would face a minimum of 60 months in a Kansas juvenile correctional complex with a maximum imprisonment until they are 22 ½ years old.

They could also receive both a juvenile and adult sentence and the adult sentence would be stayed. But if they do violate the conditions of the juvenile system, they would receive that adult sentence.

See full story at KWCH.com

  • Aug 15, 2024

Three attorneys of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, have been honored by Best Lawyers in America® 2025, including firm President Dan Monnat, who was named to the prestigious list for the 37th consecutive year.

Dan Monnat has practiced throughout Kansas and the United States for nearly 50 years, waging relentless defenses for clients facing high-stakes trials, grand juries, federal and state appellate courts, and regulatory/governmental investigations. First named to the Best Lawyers in America list in 1989, Monnat makes his 37th consecutive appearance on the list of legal luminaries, this year recognized for his work in Criminal Defense-General Practice; Criminal Defense-White Collar; Bet-the-Company Litigation; and Appellate Practice.

A prolific author and lecturer on criminal defense topics, Monnat is a cum laude graduate of California State University, with a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law. He is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College.

Stan Spurrier, who co-founded the firm with Monnat in 1985, was recognized by Best Lawyers in the areas of Appellate Practice; Criminal Defense: General Practice; and Criminal Defense: White-Collar.

Well-known for his keen legal scholarship, Spurrier earned his bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Washburn University School of Law.

Eli O’Brien is an associate attorney whose trial practice includes defense of serious felony accusations, as well as significant DUI / DWI cases. He was honored by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Criminal Defense: General Practice; Criminal Defense: White-Collar; and DUI / DWI Defense.

Before joining Monnat & Spurrier in 2015, O’Brien was a trial attorney with the Sedgwick County Public Defender’s Office. O’Brien is a graduate of Washburn University School of Law and the National Criminal Defense College Trial Practice Institute at Roger Williams School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island.

  • Jun 07, 2024
  • WSU Foundation Blog

Grace (Xiaogao) Wu-Monnat ’91 garnered lifetime achievement accolades at the 2024 Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com competition for her career as an elite martial artist and spirited promoter of wude (martial ethics).

Read More

  • Jun 07, 2024

WICHITA, Kan. – Chambers USA 2024 has ranked Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, in the top tier of Kansas litigators for White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations, describing him as “a widely venerated litigator, respected in the market for his expert representation in trial and appellate white-collar criminal proceedings… and one of the best-known criminal defense lawyers in Wichita.”

Monnat’s work in healthcare and financial investigations has earned him a place on Chambers’ top-tier list for 14 consecutive years. His clients have included both individuals and companies involved in matters investigated by bodies such as the DOJ, the US Attorneys’ Office, and Kansas AG.

“In the area of white-collar crime and government investigations, Chambers bestowed this top-tier ranking on only six attorneys across Kansas,” Monnat said. “I’m honored to be considered among this prestigious group of colleagues.”

Monnat has practiced criminal law, white-collar criminal law, and appellate law statewide for nearly 50 years. Highly regarded by peers and clients, Monnat consistently ranks among Super Lawyers’ Top 100 Lawyers in Missouri and Kansas, and five times has been named among its Top 10 Lawyers. A graduate of California State University, he received his J.D. from Creighton University School of Law. He also is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College.

A frequent editorial contributor on criminal defense topics, Monnat is co-author of “Sentencing, Probation, and Collateral Consequences,” a chapter of the Kansas Bar Association’s Kansas Criminal Law Handbook, 5th edition.

Monnat has earned distinction as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation, and the Kansas Bar Foundation. He currently sits on the Kansas Association of Trial Lawyers’ Board of Editors and contributes legal articles annually.

Monnat is a member of the National Trial Lawyers Association. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and lectures frequently at NACDL conferences and seminars nationwide.

  • May 14, 2024
  • Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Taylor Edlridge

A longtime Wichita resident recently received one of the country’s most prestigious honors in martial arts.

Grace Wu-Monnat, who has taught martial arts in downtown Wichita since 1986, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award on May 5 at the Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com competition in San Jose, Calif.

Wu-Monnat, an internationally renowned master, teacher and judge of professional Chinese Martial Arts competitions, has judged the Tiger Claw Elite competition for the past 18 years. She has critiqued kung fu, modern wushu and tai chi, as well as other styles and disciplines.

The award was presented by event organizers to recognize Wu-Monnat for her lifetime career as an international competitor and judge, as a master instructor in her own school and for her contribution to promoting the spirit and practice various styles of Chinese martial arts.

“Studying Chinese martial arts has brought physical health, mental strength, joy and better character to me,” Wu-Monnat said in a release. “Wherever I am, it is always my honor to share this treasure of Chinese culture with the world.”

Wu-Monnat is best known locally as the founder of the Grace Wu Kung Fu School, located at 122 N. St. Francis, where she has taught shaolin kung fu, tai chi and bagua to children and adults since 1986. She also works as the office manager for the law firm of Monnat & Spurrier, which her husband, Dan Monnat, co-founded in 1985.

She was born in Shanghai, China, and began training at the age of 3 with three of China’s most famous and influential martial artists: her grandfather, Gradmaster Wang Ziping, and her mother, Madame Wang Jurong, a national martial arts champion and first generation woman wushu grandmaster, and her father, Dr. Wu Cheng-de, a prominent wushu master.

Wu-Monnat earned a bachelor’s degree in Chinese Martial Arts from Shanghai Teachers University. After emigrating to the United States, she received a master’s in sports administration from Wichita State.

Full story at Kansas.com