Kelly A. George grew up intending to remain on his family’s farm in southwestern Oklahoma and follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps.

But when he went away to attend Oklahoma Christian University in the early 1980s because his parents insisted on him obtaining a college degree, the farming economy sharply declined and became much less appealing. So when he received his B.S. degree in American Studies in 1985, George opted for an alternative career path. He decided to become a lawyer instead of a farmer, attending Oklahoma City University Law School and the University of Oklahoma College of Law, receiving his J.D. in 1989.

George has never doubted that decision because he’s found that he enjoys the practice of law as much as he does agriculture and has compiled a solid career as a plaintiff’s lawyer.

After receiving his J.D., he launched his legal career working at an established general-practice firm, mostly defending businesses and insurance companies. One day a case came his way in which the opposing counsel was an old law-school friend, Attorney Derek Burch, who was practicing with well-known plaintiff’s attorney Ed Abel. George settled that case with his former classmate—and became convinced he wanted to cross over to the plaintiff side. George got hired at the firm where Burch worked, and he and Burch began handling many cases together.

After several years, the two friends decided they wanted to launch their own practice, and in 1997, the law firm of Burch & George was born.

The two founding partners have remained true to their goal of focusing solely on plaintiff’s cases. In his own practice, George has achieved numerous significant outcomes, including a number of large verdicts and seven-figure settlements.

One of those notable cases involved catastrophic injuries suffered by the operator of an excavating machine who struck a gas line that exploded, burning him badly. The defendant utility company had neglected to properly identify the location of the gas line and finally agreed to settle the case for seven figures.

“That was one of the most pleasing cases I’ve ever handled because he was so badly burned and he was such a careful person and had tried to do everything right,” Attorney Kelly George recalls. “It was a tough case to prove and we got an awesome result for him and his family.”

Another significant settlement resulted from George’s work representing an eight-year-old boy who suffered brain damage in a hospital following a botched post-tonsillectomy procedure involving a faulty “ambu bag” that failed to force air into the boy’s esophagus to quell a spasm. Attorney Kelly George and his co-counsel settled with two doctors who were sued for failing to recognize the problem and respond to it in timely fashion. He also sued the manufacturer of the ambu bag, and just when they were in the courthouse picking a jury, the company agreed to settle for a substantial sum.

Results like these are financially rewarding, but George particularly enjoys other kinds of satisfaction that they provide.

“What I enjoy most about practicing law is helping someone out who really needs the help and doesn’t think any help is coming, when they think there’s really nothing they can do about their situation and that they’re just going to have to live with it, whatever it may be,” he says. “I don’t get much pleasure out of helping somebody who wants to just add to what they’ve got, but I really like helping out the underdog.”

His career has been fulfilling in that fashion, but it’s also provided other rewards. Thanks to his successful law practice, Attorney Kelly George has been able to sustain the family farm after his father’s retirement —and takes every opportunity to travel home to get “good and dirty” while gathering cattle on horseback, driving tractors, or fixing fences.

When he’s not practicing law or farming, George enjoys spending time with his wife and their three teenage children.

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