Victor A. Bergman

Victor A. Bergman is an experienced trial lawyer who has been with Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman, Chtd. and its predecessors for the entire duration of his legal career. Throughout this time, he has represented people who were seriously injured and the families of those who were wrongfully killed.

Vic became an attorney in large part due to his passion for helping others. Driven by his commitment to helping clients achieve satisfactory results, Vic has successfully secured a proven record of results for his clients and has earned the respect and recognition of his peers and prestigious legal organizations alike.

Currently, as of counsel to the firm, Vic limits his caseload; where other trial attorneys may handle hundreds of cases at a time, Vic typically files about 10. This allows him to ensure every case—and every client—receives the time, resources, and energy needed to deliver results.

Vic’s impressive legal career includes 30 years representing children and their families in obstetrical malpractice and other birth injury cases. Notably, he has proven in court the connection between medical malpractice around the time of birth and cerebral palsy and death. Some of his successful verdicts in this area include $15 million in a case involving mismanagement of labor and delivery by nurses and an obstetrician, as well as $12.9 million in the birth injury case of Jones v. Humana.

In addition to his focus on birth injuries, Vic has extensive experience in truck accident litigation. Some of his successes include a $5 million settlement after jury selection on behalf of a client who sustained a traumatic brain injury when a semi-truck unexpectedly disconnected the second of two 45-foot trailers it was pulling on I-70. In this case, the trucking company blamed the incident on the maintenance company, which blamed the fifth-wheel manufacturer—so Vic made claims against them all.

Vic has also achieved historical personal injury successes. He was a national figure in the legal fight for women injured and/or killed by toxic shock syndrome (TSS) after using certain feminine hygiene products. In court, Vic proved the correlation between TSS and the use of highly absorbent tampons, resulting in Proctor & Gamble paying an undisclosed settlement to the victims and their families. Vic also secured a $2.25 million verdict, including $1.25 million in punitive damages, in a case involving the defective design of the Colt Single Action Revolver, “the gun that won the west,” which dates back to 1873. Additionally, in Wolfgang v. Mid-America Motorsports, Inc., R.E.D. Racing, Inc. and World of Outlaws, Inc., Vic won a $1.2 million verdict for Hall of Fame sprint car driver Doug Wolfgang against a racetrack and a sanctioning organization for the failure to provide adequate fire and rescue services for drivers. The case ultimately had major implications for the industry.

Vic believes that the best part of his job is representing people who are in crisis, not only meeting their expectations but exceeding them. His efforts have been recognized by numerous prestigious organizations, earning him a place on the list of “America’s Best Lawyers” every year since 1987 and inclusion in the Super Lawyers® list since its founding in 2005. Vic has also been inducted in the American College of Trial Lawyers, a distinct honor reserved only for the top 1% of trial lawyers nationwide.

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Areas of Practice

• Automobile Accidents
• Injuries in the Workplace
• Suits to Collect on Insurance Policies
• Environmental Issues
• Railroad Crossing Collisions
• Suits Against State and Local Governments
• Medical Malpractice and Product Liability

Bar Admissions

• Kansas
• Missouri

Education

• University of Kansas School of Law, Lawrence, Kansas
  • D. – 1975
  • Honors: Order of the Coif
  • Honors: Moot Court
  • Law Review: Kansas University School of Law, Law Review
• State University of New York at Buffalo
  • Cum laude – 1971
  • Honors: With Honors
  • Major: Political Science

Honors & Awards

• Inclusion in Super Lawyers 2020
• inducted in the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1998, limited to the top 1% of trial lawyers nationwide
• On the list of “America’s Best Lawyers” every year since 1987

Professional Associations & Memberships

• American Bar Association, Member, 1975 – Present
• American Association for Justice (AAJ), Sustaining Member, 1975 – Present
• Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (MATA), Member, 1975 – Present
• Kansas Trial Lawyers Association (KTLA), Member, 1975 – Present
• Kansas Trial Lawyers Association (KTLA), Board of Governors, 1978 – Present
• Journal of Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, Editor, Consumer and Product Liability Law Column, 1990 – 1999
• Journal of Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, Editor, Professional Negligence Column, 1999 – 2001
• Missouri Bar Association, Member, 1991 – Present
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Member, 1978 – Present
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Sustaining Member, 2002 – Present
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Co-Chair Continuing Legal Education Committee, 1999 – 2000
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Long Range Planning Committee, 2001 – 2002
• Kansas Bar Association, Member, 1975 – Present
• Johnson County (KS) Bar Association, Member, 1975 – Present
• Johnson County (KS) Bar Association, Chairman, 1992 – 1994
• Wyandotte County (KS) Bar Association, Member, 1975 – Present
• Kansas (Earl E. O’Connor) Inn of Court Master of the Bench, Charter Member, 1992
• Kansas (Earl E. O’Connor) Inn of Court Master of the Bench, Secretary, 1995 – 1998
• Kansas (Earl E. O’Connor) Inn of Court Master of the Bench, President Elect, 1997 – 1998
• Kansas (Earl E. O’Connor) Inn of Court Master of the Bench, President, 1998 – 1999
• American Inns of Court, Member, 1992 – Present
• Tenth Judicial District Nominating Commission – Elected by Bar Association, 1988 – 2008
• Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group, 1995 – 1998

Published Works

• “Residential Asbestos: The Personal Environment,” Journal of Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, No. 5, p. 14, May, 1992
• Co-Principal Author, The Judicial Survey (Civil), The Survey of the Practices and Preferences of the Judges of the Civil Divisions of the Tenth Judicial District, Johnson County, Kansas, Johnson County Bar Association, 1994
• “Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Section – Informed Consent or Russian Roulette?,” Missouri Lawyers Weekly, Vol. 14, No. 11, pgs. 16-17, March, 2000
• “VBAC, Uterine Rupture, and the 30-Minute Rule,” Kansas Trial Lawyers Association Journal, Vol. XXIII, No. 5, pgs. 6-9, May, 2000
• “VBAC-Informed Consent or Russian Roulette?,” Professional Negligence Law Reporter, Vol. 16, No. 5, pgs. 95-96, June, 2001
• “Use a witness’s own words to establish a standard of care,” TRIAL, Journal of the American Association for Justice, pg. 72, February, 2003
• “Mining Electronic Medical Records for Precious Information,” Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, Pgs. 16-17 – Summer, 2010

Pro Bono Activities

• Master of the Bench, Kansas Inn of Court

Past Employment Positions

• Schnider, Shamberg & May, Chtd., Associate, 1975 – 1978
• Schnider, Shamberg & May, Chtd, Principal, 1978 – 1984