Kay Madden received her license to practice law in 1983, the same year she was awarded her J.D. degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City .  Prior to attending law school, she received a M.A. in Library Science in 1972 from the University of Missouri at Columbia and was employed as a reference librarian in Springfield, Missouri .  Her undergraduate degree is from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas .

She has represented countless Kansas City area clients in traditional dissolution of marriage actions.  In addition, she has worked with non-married parents seeking to establish their rights in paternity actions.  She has assisted grandparents in obtaining visitation with grandchildren; has helped lesbians and gays establish and dissolve formal relationships; has assisted step-parents in adopting step-children and has represented family members in obtaining guardianships of minor and adult children.

In her probate practice, she has handled estates of all sizes, from $40,000.00 to several million dollars.  She has assisted in distributing art collections to museums and has shepherded the sales of professional practices.  Her practice has also involved the valuation and sale of numerous kinds of real estate, including many rental properties.

She has spoken on and given several presentations relating to the legal issues that affect the gay, lesbian and transgender community.  She is a regular guest on KKFI's The Tenth Voice and has contributed to the Clark Boardman publication, Sexual Orientation and the Law.   She has given peer reviews for an ABA publication, Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples and for a local ACLU publication The Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered People in Missouri and Kansas . She also gives presentations on the topic of collaborative law at seminars and was honored to speak with Stu Webb, founder of the collaborative law movement, at Lavender Law, the annual conference of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association of which she is a member. 

The highlights of her legal work are meeting interesting people, imparting useful information to them, and assisting them in untangling their legal problems.  She is an unswerving advocate for her clients and is very committed to helping her clients understand the legal process.

Bar Admissions

• Missouri, 1983
• U.S. Federal Court, 1983

Education

• University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, Kansas City, Missouri
  J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
  
  
• University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, 1972
  M.A., Master of Arts
  
  
• Mount Saint Scholastica College, Atchison, Kansas, 1971
  B.A., Bachelor of Arts
  
  

Honors and Awards

• Four Freedoms Award, 2005

Professional Associations and Memberships

• National Lawyers Guild, 1982 - Present
  Member
  
  
• National Lawyers Guild Foundation Board, 2005 - 2006
  Secretary
  
  
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
  Member
  
  
• Missouri Bar Association
  
  
• International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
  
  
• National Lesbian and Gay Law Association