Gerald Lee Cross, Jr., or just Lee to his fellow New Lawyers, was inspired at a young age to pursue a legal career as an advocate for justice. Lee grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, a university community where the pursuit of justice was constantly encouraged. Additionally, and admittedly, Lee’s passion for his profession also grew from the masterful lawyers he saw in the movies and on television.
While many working folks may dread getting out of bed each morning, Lee is the exact opposite. The reality that he is representing injured clients helps him start the day. It is important to Lee to work his hardest to obtain any amount of recovery for his clients through the civil justice system. In response to a friend who didn’t understand why Lee worked so hard, he replied: “well, I have a six month pregnant client that lives across the street from a dairy operation the federal and state government declared public health hazard.” For Lee, not working hard is not an option.
Lee is an Associate at the Speer Law Firm in Kansas City, Missouri. He practices environmental nuisance law on an individual and class action basis, crime victims’ civil actions, and general class action and mass tort work. His primary focus is common law nuisance cases against large scale animal factories. Throughout his career, Lee has written persuasive and legally-sound briefs that have resulted in favorable outcomes for his Firm’s clients. Lee also participated in settling a major case in 2009 against a swine operation that was a nuisance in Cedar County, Missouri.
Lee was prompted to first become involved in the AAJ New Lawyers Division by Richard H. Middleton, Jr., a former AAJ President who strongly encouraged him to join. As a member, Lee has not only benefitted greatly from the valuable legal resources offered by the NLD, he has cultivated friendships with influential, like-minded attorneys and he’s had a tremendous amount of fun.
To all the New Lawyers out there, Lee reminds you to make sure you’re always having fun and to practice the type of law that you want to do every day. Most importantly, never stop learning because you never know what fact will help a client in need someday!
About Lee Cross:
Name: Gerald Lee Cross, Jr.
Firm: Speer Law Firm, P.A.
Address: 104 West 9th Street, Suite 305; Kansas City, Missouri 64105
Phone: 816-472-3560
Email: lcross@speerlawfirm.com
Participation in AAJ: Lee is a member of NLD Board of Governors from 2008-Present, he has participated in phonathons and had an article published Spring 2009. Lee is also a member of the NLC Fundraising committee, PAC sub-committee, and the Kansas Association of Justice Board of Governors.
