Shamberg, John Elliott

John E. Shamberg, Prairie Village, a veteran Kansas trial lawyer whose legal career extended over a period of more than 60 years, died Thursday, July 9.

Mr. Shamberg devoted the greater part of his practice to the representation of persons sustaining severe personal injury or property damage as a result of negligent acts committed by others. He engaged in some groundbreaking cases during his legal career. Among the more notable is the case which abolished governmental immunity in Kansas.

He participated in a wide range of cases involving defective consumer products, the use of which resulted in injury to persons using them — flammable nightwear, defective toys, games and sports equipment negligently designed or manufactured. Throughout his long professional career, his main concern was representing the rights of the disadvantaged and the underprivileged.

He was born in Fremont, Neb., on July 15, 1913, the son of Bernard (Barney) and Matilda (Tillie) Shamberg. At an early age, he moved with the family to Hutchinson, Kan., where he was raised. He attended the public school system there and then attended Washburn College and law school in Topeka on scholarship. He graduated from Washburn Law School in June 1937. He was president of the law school student body during his senior year.

Following graduation from law school, he engaged in private practice for a short time. In June 1939, Kansas Governor Walter A. Huxman was appointed a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and selected John Shamberg as his first law clerk — a position he held from June 1939 until he was drafted into the United States Army in March 1942.

Following basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and officer candidate school at Fort Belvoir, Va., in the Corps of Engineers, which he completed in 1942 as a commissioned 2nd lieutenant, he served four years in the armed forces during World War II, including a year and seven months overseas. He was assigned to the staff of the Commanding General of the 2nd U.S. Army. In June 1944, he was transferred to the new Eighth U.S. Army and served  for  19  months  in  the    Pacific Theater, where he participated in the planning of the strategic invasion campaigns of the Philippine Islands, resulting in the liberation of those islands. He remained in the Philippine Islands until Japan surrendered in August 1944, and then participated in the supervision of reconstruction of the Japanese economy.

During his wartime service in World War II, he rose to the rank of major. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in the Pacific Theater. He also was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, Air Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal and American Service Medal.

After serving in the armed forces in World War II and following a refresher course at Harvard Law School, he resumed the practice of law in Kansas City, Kan., in 1949. In 1966, he reorganized the firm in which he was practicing under the name of Schnider, Shamberg and May. In 1995, the firm was again reorganized and the name was changed to Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman, Chtd., the name under which the firm continues to practice today with offices in Kansas City, Mo., and Overland Park.

John Shamberg was personal counsel to the two-term Democratic governor of Kansas in the 1970s, Robert B. Docking.
He was one of the designated lead counsel in the litigation of claims for the victims of the 1981 collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel skywalks, which resulted in the death or serious injury of 350 people.

He was a member of the Kansas Supreme Court Nomination Commission from 1985 to 1993 — a constitutionally-created body chosen to select judicial candidates to fill vacancies occurring on the Kansas Supreme Court and the Kansas Court of Appeals. He was the first Kansas-based lawyer to receive the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s Dean of the Trial Bar Award in 1997. He served on the board of governors of the Kansas Bar Association and, in 1989, was honored with its Distinguished Service Award. He represented the Kansas Bar Association in the house of delegates of the American Bar Association from 1970 to 1972 and from 1980 to 1990. In 2006, he received the Phil Lewis Medal of Distinction. He served on the board of governors of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association. In 1989, he was its first recipient of the Arthur G. Hodgson Distinguished Service Award and in 2005, he received the Humanitarian Award. In 1995, he received the Leavenworth County Bar Association’s Smiling Bull Award and in 2000, received the Justinian Award from the Johnson County (Kansas) Bar Association for professional excellence. He served on the board of governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers and was a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a select body of trial lawyers limited to 500 members in which membership is by invitation only. He was a member of the Wyandotte County (Kansas) Bar Association. He was listed in the plaintiff’s trial lawyer section of the highly selective “The Best Lawyers in America” legal directory from the time that directory was first published in 1983 through the year 2000.

He was elected president of the Washburn Law School Association for two terms from 1965 to 1970, and in June 1966, he headed the campaign to raise funds to build a new Washburn Law School Center. In 1970, he received the association’s Distinguished Service Award.
He belonged to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah and served on its board of trustees from 1968 to 1971. He was also a member of Congregation Beth Torah and B’nai B’rith.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his sisters, Helen Shamberg Beutler of Hutchinson and Phyllis Shamberg Zien of Milwaukee; and his brother, Daniel A. Shamberg of Ashtabula, Ohio. He is survived by his brother Dan’s widow, Angela, of Ashtabula; his niece, Barbara Musser of Kentfield, Calif., and her children, Jake Musser and Jane Musser; nephew Jerome “Chip” Zien, a prominent Broadway and television actor, and his wife, Suzanne, and their children, Halley Zien and Zoe Zien of New York City.

Funeral services were held Monday, July 13, at Congregation Beth Torah. Burial was in the family plot at Fairlawn Cemetery in Hutchinson. The family suggests contributions to the Parkinson Foundation or other organizations of choice.

An online guestbook is available at www.louismemorialchapel.com.

Arr: The Louis Memorial Chapel, (816) 361-5211.

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