Our Team

 I'm passionate about helping hardworking employees heal from the trauma of  toxic and abusive workplaces. It changes your body and mind--I know from my own personal experience.

I spent the first 18 years of my life in Indiana. 

At Swarthmore College, I focused on creative writing and literature–storytelling.  I sold a creative piece for $10 my junior year.  Tearing open that envelope and holding that check, I realized I could use my creative skills to make a difference and earn a living. 

In law school at Washington University in St. Louis, I co-created/taught a course on gender and the law to undergrads.  I represented violence survivors in a clinic, and helped draft the ABA’s guidelines for lawyers working with violence survivors.

During the recession, I worked in sales: all day,  I cold-called and met with companies to sell software products.   I learned how to use focused conversations to uncover pain points, and use the sales process to solve these problems.  That’s what I do every day in this work–and I love it.

I’m passionate about natural wine (ask me about it!), cooking for dinner for my friends, writing fiction, travel, and working to end corruption in our political system.  I am Vice-President of the National Employment Lawyers Association of Kansas City–a great legal community. I speak French, Spanish,  Hindi/Urdu.  None as well as I’d like.  And yes, I love donkeys (and all animals except birds and rodents).  Donkeys are kind, resilient, loving, loyal creatures.  Everyone should befriend a donkey.  Try it.

Your employment story and your success are in my heart.

I hope to meet you and understand  your goals, and ultimately help you stand up to your employer and achieve your career dreams.  I’m passionate about negotiation and trial, and I have worked with people from union laborers and lab techs to nurses, doctors, lawyers, and CEOs to negotiate high-value severances. And if the corporation refuses to deal, to take your case all the way.  I am so happy and grateful to work with the love of my life (E.E.), and a great team (including you!) to tell your story and ensure that you obtain the best and most fulfilling result for you.  We are on this journey together--you will never be alone.

Contact Sonal at sonal@keenanfirm.com

When I was growing up, I remember seeing relatives and friends constantly out of work or, when lucky enough to have work, getting treated like dirt.  I could see on their faces how much it hurt not to have a job and provide for their families, and the pain and confusion of having a boss who acted like you never do anything right when you're working hard.  I realized that what unites all people is the need for meaningful and dignifying work.  I decided to become a lawyer, and to get involved with the labor movement.  

After college and law school at Harvard, I clerked for a fabulous federal judge on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  My time with Judge Benton gave me an inside view of the court system.  Afterwards, I went into law practice to help folks like the family and friends I remember from when I was a kid.  I want to help people turn that sadness and confusion into hope and joy.  

Sonal and I were in love and had nothing to lose, and had just gotten engaged.  Start a law firm...why not?!  That's the power of love.  I'm a law nerd, but that's not the most important thing.  One of the many things Sonal and I share is a love of storytelling.  We tell each other stories all the time, and come up with them together.  

I enjoy reading good books (especially Joyce) and writing poetry.  I'm a runner and am very interested in politics (I have good friends across the spectrum and love hearing a diversity of viewpoints).  In my spare time, I'm trying to learn French and Hindi.  

I'm looking forward to hearing your story and sharing mine with you!

Contact E.E. at ee@keenanfirm.com

I come from a long line of hard workers.  I grew up on Air Force bases across the Midwest, the South, and overseas in Iceland and Germany.  My dad worked his way up the ranks of the U.S. Military and taught himself as he went.  He did it without a wealthy family or a formal education.  My mom was a stay-at-home mom who raised me and my five siblings.  She was an amazing chef, and I have many fond memories of her milling her own wheat and baking loaves of bread from scratch.  My grandparents worked in oil fields in southern Illinois, in the snow and rain for the U.S. Post Office, in various blue-collar jobs, and for big insurance companies.

When I was fifteen, I wanted to buy my own car, but there wasn’t any money for it.  Because I’d been taught the value of hard work, I rolled up my sleeves one summer and got to work.  I sold homemade beef jerky to the men and women who worked on the Whiteman Air Force Base flight line.  By the end of the summer I’d saved enough money to buy my first car.  A 1993 Dodge Shadow!  It wasn’t the prettiest car around, but I was proud of my hard work.  I took that same work ethic and put myself through college at the University of Central Missouri, and later at the University of Missouri School of Law.  I then spent the next seven years practicing with some of Missouri’s biggest law firms.

The hard work I was taught and learned, paid off for me.  But I’ve also seen so many times where hard work just isn’t enough for bosses and companies.  Even when you put in the long hours, give up nights and weekends, or sacrifice holidays with family.  One day you’re abruptly told you’ve been “let go.”  You’re told your hard work isn’t good enough.  Maybe your boss says you don’t deserve the promotion you worked so hard for.  Or maybe you’re made to feel like it’s your fault.  Deep-down you have a feeling it could really be about something else. 

This type of treatment is why I went to law school and why I love being a lawyer.  It’s the type of treatment our legal system can step in to help you with.  The environment of your job and the decisions your employer makes about you are very important.  If it’s really about the color of your skin, your gender, your age, your disability, or any other protected area, it’s not just wrong.  It’s illegal.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee (one of my favorite authors) wrote some famous words.  “You never really understand a person until you consider things from [their] point of view.”   That line has stuck with me since I first read it back in grade school.  I’ve always wanted to understand other people’s points of view.  I love fighting for my hard-working clients who are “let go,” who are harassed at work, or who are passed over for the job they deserve.  It’s amazing when the law can bring healing to the trauma that a toxic workplace inflicts.

When I’m not busy fighting for my clients in and out of the courtroom, you can find me reading a good book, gardening in the backyard of my Strawberry Hill home, driving my truck through the deserts of the Southwest, or writing poetry snuggled up with my two pugs: Porter & Petunia.  

I look forward to listening to you and figuring out how we can bring justice to what you’ve been through, together.

Contact JR at

jr@keenanfirm.com 

I grew up in the woods in the Southwest Missouri Ozarks. My parents were public school teachers. They cared most about influencing the world of each child for the better. I have benefitted from their well-intended belief that they could make a small, but positive change in the world – a step hopefully in the direction of progress.  That’s part of why I became a lawyer. I wanted to help folks too  – particularly those who are up against the odds through no fault of their own. 

After growing up in rural Missouri, I attended Missouri State University (BA) in Springfield, Missouri.  Prior to pursuing a legal education, I worked as a news reporter for two small weekly newspapers. I went to law school at the University of Missouri - Columbia. After graduating from law school, I clerked for Judge Cynthia Martin at the Missouri Court of Appeals - Western District. 

After my clerkship, I returned to a small town in Southwest Missouri where I worked for three years before joining Keenan & Bhatia. It’s a privilege, of which many I have enjoyed in life, to have the opportunity to help you. 

Contact Aaron at aaron@keenanfirm.com 

I’m probably the first person you’ll meet and talk with at the firm because I manage intake at Keenan & Bhatia–meaning I learn your story and I am your advocate to the lawyers and decisionmakers at the firm.  I was raised in Gladstone, Missouri by  two hard-working immigrant parents who taught me the value of everyone’s jobs from top to bottom. My father told me stories of his mistreatment as a foreigner trying to make it in America, so I’ve developed a passion for advocating for people who have been excluded or targeted in any discriminatory way. I believe we all deserve to work in positions where we are appreciated for our efforts, treated fairly, seen as humans with lives outside of our employment, and can have a fair work-life balance. 

After receiving my Business - Marketing Degree from The University of Missouri-Kansas City, I’ve worked in a multitude of industries, ranging from jewelry sales to managing the marketing of local businesses in the Kansas City Metro area. I’ve found a home at Keenan & Bhatia because my team and I share a passion for fighting for all employees who have been mistreated or marginalized. 

In my free time, you can find me in one of my arrange of hobbies, including: photography, skateboarding, fitness, and martial arts. I believe the beauty in life is chasing anything and everything your soul finds passion in! You can also find me doing my most important work: being a father to my newborn daughter! 

Thanks for taking the time to learn about me, I look forward to learning your story!

Contact Donnie at donnie@keenanfirm.com