Founding Member
Ashley Ricket has handled hundreds of cases of nursing home abuse and medical malpractice, but a case that was taken to a 10-week trial in California made a lasting impression on her.
"We didn’t focus on what happened but why it happened.” And what was uncovered was shocking.
81 year-old Joan Boice was severely neglected over her brief residency at an elder care facility. As a result she died from horrifically painful pressure ulcers. The family of Joan Boice, who visited often, were not made aware of her pressure sores until it was too late and she was taken to the hospital.
“This was a system failure,” she emphasizes, “where in essence the residents AND the employees were subjected to abuse by the corporate culture of the parent company.” Ricket empathized with the nursing home staff; there weren’t enough of them, they weren’t trained properly. They could only do so much with a lack of training and lack of staff.
“Joan was only there eleven weeks and was severely neglected which allowed deep pressure sores to develop, causing an excruciatingly painful death,” she stated. “The family wasn’t aware she had the problem until it was too late."
In this case, Ricket was able to help win a judgment in excess of twenty three million dollars with her distinguished co-counsel Lesley Clement of Sacramento, California. “Our opponents respect our expertise in the area of nursing home and elder abuse and that helps in equitable resolution of cases that typically go on for 18 months or more,” she says.
EXPERIENCE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Ashley feels that, thanks to handling hundreds of cases of nursing home abuse, “We are very familiar with the state and federal regulations governing nursing homes, allowing us to streamline cases and get to the heart of the matter," says Ricket.
POLICY CHANGE IS THE GOAL
Ricket notes her efforts often result in an agreement to implement long-term change of policy. “Usually we can get a policy put into place to keep what happened from happening again. Nursing home owners typically agree to our requests for policy and procedure changes."
She's worked on medical cases and nursing home cases since she started her career as an attorney. It was then she discovered this niche she was interested in. "I felt that it was important to protect people from gross negligence, abuse, and neglect,” Ricket recalls. "I am passionate about fighting for clients and their family members who are in a vulnerable state and in great need of a voice."
ABOUT ASHLEY RICKET
Ashley Ricket's practice focuses on personal injury litigation, representing plaintiffs specifically in the areas of nursing home abuse and neglect, medical malpractice, daycare abuse, and insurance bad faith. She has litigated cases in state and federal courts in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas; the Federal Court of Claims in Washington, D.C.; the Supreme Court of Missouri; and the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District of Missouri. Ashley went to trial in an elder abuse case in California over a period of 10 weeks in 2013 with co-counsel Lesley Clement.
In 2012, Ashley was selected by Missouri judges and her peers to receive the Rising Star Award at the Women’s Justice Awards, awarded to women lawyers 40 or under or within the first 10 years of practice who have already made a difference in the justice system or the profession and who appear on a path toward even greater accomplishment. Also in 2012, Ashley was recognized by Missouri Lawyers Weekly as one of Missouri's "Up & Coming" attorneys, and has been named to the National Trial Lawyers association Top 40 Under 40 list in 2012-2015. Ashley has also been named to Kansas City Business Journal's Best of the Bar for 2013 through 2016 and Super Lawyers for Missouri and Kansas for the years 2012-2016. Ashley is licensed to practice in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.
Ashley currently serves on the board of governors for the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys and the Excecutive Committee for the Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City. Ashley is also a published author in the Journal of the Missouri Bar as well as the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys’ magazine, Missouri Trial Attorney.
Ashley lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two young toddler boys. She enjoys spending time with her family, playing golf, and running.
BAR ADMISSIONS
Kansas
Missouri
EDUCATION
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, Kansas City, Missouri
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
The Missouri Bar, Member
Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, Member, Board of Governors, Amicus Committee, Women's Caucus
Association for Women Lawyers for Greater Kansas City, Board Member
American Association for Justice, Member
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Member
Hope House, Member
Publications & Appearances
PUBLISHED WORKS
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL WITHOUT PREJUDICE AFTER SUMMARY JUDGMENT DISPOSITION...NOT SO FAST, The Missouri Trial Attorney, Summer 2013.
EX-PARTE COMMUNICATIONS WITH PHYSICIANS? Missouri's Old Rule v. HIPAA's New Rule, The Missouri Bar Journal, March-April 2009.
THE LITIGANT'S GUIDE TO SURVIVING SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR A CLAIM OF NEGLIGENT RETENTION OF AN INCOMPETENT SUBCONTRACTOR, The Missouri Trial Attorney, Winter 2007.
