Tom PortoInjury & Civil Rights Lawyer

Tom Porto

Get to know Tom

Tom Porto is a trial lawyer who represents people facing catastrophic injury and wrongful death. Many of his cases involve children or families living through loss after a preventable failure by an institution responsible for their safety.

His practice includes severe injury, wrongful death, police brutality, and jail deaths. He is especially drawn to cases involving serious harm, unequal power, and institutions that expect to avoid meaningful consequences.

Tom began his career as a Missouri State Public Defender, which shaped the approach he brings to his trial work today. His early defense trials sharpened his instinct to represent people facing the weight of systems that often overlook the pressures imposed on ordinary lives. He is known for handling difficult cases with unusual care for the human realities behind the lawsuit, and that perspective remains central to his practice. 

Tom is involved in several civic and professional leadership roles connected to housing, police accountability, and community life in Kansas City, reflecting a longstanding interest in how institutions serve—or fail to serve—ordinary people. He was elected to the Missouri Bar Board of Governors in 2018 and to the 16th Circuit Judicial Commission in 2024. He also sits on several local boards, including the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority of Kansas City, where he serves as Chairman of the Board and remains committed to creating housing for low-income Kansas City residents.

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Tom is a graduate of Rockhurst High School, the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law.

Tom loves Kansas City, the Royals, his wife, his daughters, and their black lab, Apollo.

Talk with Tom