About

Sean O’Brien, Founder & President

Professor O’Brien teaches Criminal Law & Procedure at UMKC, and supervises the Master Class in Postconviction Advocacy. As a career public defender and nonprofit attorney, he successfully litigated cases involving the death penalty, innocence, and excessive sentences in all stages of criminal proceedings across the country, including trial, appeal, postconviction, habeas corpus and clemency. His Supreme Court victories include Schlup v. Delo, which defined the standard for actual innocence in habeas corpus litigation, and Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal, which preserved habeas corpus protection for severely mentally ill death row prisoners. Awards he has received include the Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly Lawyer of the Year Award (2003),the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), the University of Missouri-Kansas City Alumnus of the Year (2023), Northwest Missouri State University’s Distinguished Alumni Award (2006), and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Benedictine College (2023). 

“For me, the practice of law has been a calling more than a profession. Nothing excites me more as a professor than to see students find meaningful work that ignites their passion. I can also attest that the best feeling a lawyer can have is to walk out of a prison with your client – and your daughter. It is pure joy to have this opportunity to work with my current and former students and my family in this worthy cause.”

Brian Russell, Vice President

Brian is passionate about leveling the playing field and forcing companies to take responsibility for the harm they cause. He loves finding new ways to get better results and making sure that people are treated fairly by insurance companies. He provides straightforward and honest advice that helps clients make the best of their situation.

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Brian and partner Matt Meyerkord went to high school together. After graduating from Mizzou in 2002, he was motivated by the events of September 11th to enlist in the U.S. Army. He attended basic training and then went to Officer Candidate School, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the infantry. He deployed to Iraq for 14 months during Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as a rifle platoon leader.

After nearly four years in the military, Brian was honorably discharged and attended law school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He fell in love with Kansas City and chose to make it his home after graduating in 2010. He partnered with his lifelong friend, Matt Meyerkord, in early 2012. Two years later, they partnered with Nick Hergott to form Meyerkord, Russell & Hergott.

The legal process can be confusing and intimidating. Brian enjoys helping his client’s understand the process so they can make good decisions. He takes pride in fighting for people that are hurt and vulnerable because of someone else’s carelessness. When the other side refuses to take responsibility for their actions, Brian is ready and willing to take your case to trial.

Nicole Gordon, Executive Director

Nicole recently graduated from UMKC Law School, where she completed a Master Class in Clinical Advocacy and was honored with the Houdek Award for her enduring dedication to pro bono work. She completed a degree in Communications from Rockhurst University in 2010, achieving Academic Honors and being recognized as a Jesuit Founder Scholarship Recipient. In 2017, she earned a Legal Studies certificate from Duke University. Nicole has dedicated her time to advocating for children as a court-appointed special advocate and is now actively involved in two teams working to overturn wrongful convictions. Nicole also serves on the Investigation & Advocacy Service Board of Directors.

“My desire for justice and equality drove me to pursue a career in law. Working with the Investigation and Advocacy Service, an organization that shares my values, allows me to make a difference in ways that I could not do on my own. My team and I are committed to investigating cases of injustice and advocating for marginalized and disadvantaged people. Through my work, I’ve developed the fundamental skills required to navigate complex legal issues and effectively advocate for those in need. It’s an honor to be a part of such an incredible team dedicated to making a difference in the lives of those in need.”

Quinn C. O’Brien, Lead Investigator

Quinn O’Brien has a degree in News/Editorial Journalism from the University of Missouri, Columbia, where she began her career by selling her homework to pay her rent. After a time as a freelance journalist and stringer, Quinn moved to Washington, DC to work with the AFL-CIO’s voter protection project. After the Bush-Kerry election, Quinn decided it was time to go into the family business. She spent the next seven years as an investigator with the Washington, DC Public Defender Service, eventually becoming an intern trainer and supervisor and a senior investigator.  PDSDC still uses the FOIA and Sunshine Law manual she authored for them. In 2010, Quinn moved back home to help her father, Sean O’Brien, with the Dale Helmig case. Since then, Quinn has obtained her Missouri PI license and takes anything from pretrial federal capital cases to local civil cases. As the only non-attorney member of the faculty at UMKC School of Law, Adjunct Instructor O’Brien has more student-in-class hours than all but two other adjunct professors at UMKC. Quinn is also a regular member of the faculty for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, providing in-person and recorded training materials for defense attorneys nationwide. Quinn’s article, Put Down the Phone! The Standard for Witness Interviews is In-person, Face-to-Face, One-on-One, 50 HOFSTRA L. REV. 339 (2022), was in the top 10 most downloaded academic articles worldwide after publication. When Quinn isn’t investigating or training investigators, her free time is spen0t volunteering her services for the Missouri Public Defender’s Warrant Amnesty Program in Kansas City, the UMKC Expungement Clinic, and as a researcher for local political campaigns. 

I love working with students and new investigators. They don’t know yet that we’re supposed to lose. I teach them to find their strength in the people we help. Darryl Burton was never my client, but I helped him find his daughter after he was exonerated. Darryl had lost her to the foster system. It was Darryl who reminded me of this, from the book of Matthew: “I was in prison, and ye came unto me. … Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” So I will fight for the prisoner, regardless of their innocence or likeability. We have the best criminal justice system in the world, but it is still a human system. Every human involved in the system, every person in the court room – from the jury to the witnesses to the lawyers to the judge – must act with integrity for the system to work. And when it doesn’t, that’s when I come in. 

I believe Cynthia Rosenberg said it best: “We, as criminal defense lawyers (and investigators, and paralegals), are forced to deal with some of the lowest people on earth, people who have no sense of right and wrong, people who will lie in court to get what they want, people who do not care who gets hurt in the process. It is our job–our sworn duty–as criminal defense lawyers, to protect our clients from those people.” (Parentheses mine.)

Tom Green, Treasurer

Tom Green is the University of Missouri Kansas City-School of Law’s Business Operations Manager for over twenty-six years.  He is a wizard with numbers and strategic implementation of finances. He is a seasoned veteran with expertise in understanding the needs of corporations and budgeting towards those needs with the flexibility to change as so does the culture of any organization.  Tom has a proven track record of driving financial success through strategic decision-making and cost savings initiatives.  He has a strong aptitude for data driven decision making and a passion for streamlining processes to maximize efficiency.  

Tom Green’s educational background boasts of a master’s degree in business administration at the Henry Bloch School of Business at UMKC in 1997 and bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Kansas in 1983.