Biography
Todd D. Powell, a sixth-generation Phillips County native, is a Partner in the law firm of Glassman Bird Powell, L.L.P.
Todd graduated with a B.A. from Fort Hays State University in 1995 with a major in History and a minor in Political Science. He graduated Cum Laude from Washburn University School of Law in 1998.
Todd has practiced law since 1998. He is licensed to practice in Kansas, Missouri, the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has extensive experience in personal injury and civil litigation, transactional law, contracts, employment and labor law, and appellate practice, having successfully argued cases before both the Kansas Supreme Court and Kansas Court of Appeals.
Todd served as the General Counsel and Executive Assistant to the President at Fort Hays State University from 2004-2015. Prior to that, he was a Research Attorney for the Honorable David S. Knudson at the Court of Appeals for the State of Kansas and practiced law with the firm of Cavanaugh, Smith & Lemon, P.A., Topeka.
Todd is active in the local community, serving on the Ellis County Economic Development Coalition from 2004-2016, and was its President from 2010-2012. He served as a board member of the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce and is past President of the Hays Kiwanis Club. He was in the 2005 Leadership Kansas Class and was the Leadership Kansas Local Program Chair for Hays in 2010. While in Topeka, Todd was part of the Leadership Topeka Class of 2003 and was on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club of Topeka.
Todd is currently an adjunct instructor at FHSU, teaching Business Law, Healthcare Law, Law for Recreation and Sport Managers, and Higher Education Law. He formerly was an adjunct professor at Washburn University School of Law teaching pre-trial procedure.
Todd is a member of the American and Kansas Bar Associations and the American Association for Justice and the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association. He is also a member of the Ellis County Bar Association and served as its President from 2017-2018.
Todd was born in Goodland, Kansas. He and his wife Trina have two children.
Practice Areas
- Personal Injury
- Civil Litigation
- Government Practice
- Business & Transactional
- Labor & Employment
- Appellate Practice
- Administrative
Reported Cases
In re Marriage of Thrailkill, 57 Kan.App.2d 244 (2019), briefed and argued by Todd D. Powell
The Court of Appeals upheld the Ellis County District Court’s ruling granting our client a portion of her ex-husband’s retired military pay, counting the amount of retirement pay he is to receive monthly for figuring the amount of child support he owes, and in requiring him to pay part of a student loan taken out to benefit one of the parties’ children.
The Court of Appeals reversed a decision by the District Court of Russell County, Kansas that a construction contract between the parties required them to submit to binding arbitration. The Court of Appeals held in favor of our client that the contract only required mediation, not arbitration and remanded the case back to District Court.
Fort Hays State University appealed a decision by the Public Employees Relations Board and the Shawnee County District Court granting damages to an employee of FHSU who claimed FHSU violated the union contract between the University and it’s professor’s union. The Court of Appeals held in the University’s favor, finding that the Board did not have the authority to make such an order.
This is the appeal of the ruling of the Court of Appeals in the prior case to the Kansas Supreme Court. The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision and found in favor of the University, holding that the Board has no authority to award money damages as a consequence of a violation of Kansas labor laws.