Bio

Alan Rupe is the managing partner in the Wichita and Kansas City offices and vice-chair of the Employment & Labor Practice. Mr. Rupe is a trial lawyer whose demonstration of special knowledge, skills, and proficiency in civil trials has earned him the title of “Board Certified Trial Specialist,” certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He also maintains the Martindale-Hubbell ^® AV Preeminent ™ Rating.

Mr. Rupe is an experienced trial lawyer, well versed in EEOC and civil rights complaints at a federal level. Recent peer reviews describe him as "brilliant," and note that "he has tried a ton of lawsuits and understands as well as anyone how the courtroom works. He's tough but easy to get along with. One of the best."

Mr. Rupe is also an “Advocate” member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (“ABOTA”). “Advocate” membership is by invitation only and granted only to those trial attorneys who are of “high personal character and honorable reputation” with considerable jury trial experience.

Mr. Rupe has been recognized by Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel and by Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers^® as a “Super Lawyer” since 2005. The Best Lawyers In America^® acknowledges Mr. Rupe in the practice areas of Civil Rights Law, Employment Law –Management, Litigation – Labor & Employment and Litigation – Municipal since 2008. In 2010, he was selected by The Best Lawyers In America as “Kansas Lawyer of the Year in Labor and Employment Law” and again in 2014-2015 as Wichita Litigation - Labor and Employment “Lawyer of the Year.”

Mr. Rupe’s practice embraces every aspect of employment law: day-to-day counseling, training, administrative agency proceedings, civil litigation, and trials. His years of experience defending claims of discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, civil rights violations, and wage and hour class and collective actions, cause employers to seek him out for representation in state and federal courts across the United States.

Mr. Rupe receives ongoing national attention and recognition for his successful prosecution of cases relating to the constitutionality of the funding of K-12 public education. Mr. Rupe received the Demetrio Rodriguez Champion of Educational Justice Award, awarded by Education Law Center, Inc. for "years of outstanding lawyering and lobbying and perseverance in the face of many obstacles, including brash insults" for his work on a series of lawsuits on behalf of Kansas school children. The lawsuit culminated in a court ordering the State of Kansas to increase spending on public schools by nearly $1 billion each year from 2006-2009, and approximately $440 million in 2014 and 2015.

Oral argument and advocacy are two of Mr. Rupe’s strengths; he is often retained to handle appellate arguments after previous counsel receives unfavorable rulings or verdicts by trial courts.

As an ABOTA “Advocate,” Rupe has significant jury trial experience as lead counsel in well over 150 jury trials. There is virtually no type of civil matter that he has not handled in the courtroom. He tried the first Title VII jury trial in Kansas. He tried the first RICO case in Kansas. He has litigated a number of single plaintiff, class, and collective action lawsuits in state and federal courts across the country, from Montgomery County, Maryland to Los Angeles Superior Court to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to Brownsville, Texas. Accustomed to being the “lawyer from out of town,” he skillfully demonstrates his courtroom skills and experience on behalf of his clients.

Mr. Rupe shares his legal knowledge and know-how through public speaking and writing. He speaks frequently to executives, lawyers and human resource professionals on a variety of workplace and legal issues. He is a contributing author to Defense Research Institute publications, the Kansas Bar Association’s Employment Law Handbook and Annual Survey of Law, and contributes regularly to other legal and human resources publications.

Alan L. Rupe

Find Featured Recipients

Attorney Acceptance Form

Attorney Login

Alan L. Rupe

Login

Sign up for