The most important item in Kenneth “Kenny” Powell III’s Clayton office isn’t a legal brief, a settlement agreement or a framed award.
It’s a photograph.
The photo features Powell’s great-great-great-grandfather, an enslaved man from South Carolina, and his 10 children. The generations that followed included a blacksmith and preacher, a World War I veteran and Jerome Williams Sr., a St. Louis physician and civil rights leader. Two of Williams’ sons, Jerome and William, also became physicians.
That photo, with its genesis in injustice, Powell said, “helps keep me grounded … helps me remember where I came from and the sacrifices of my ancestors that led me to the opportunities I have today. It’s in my blood.”
“Justice” is the word Powell returns to repeatedly when discussing his work as founder of the Powell Law Firm, a Clayton-based personal injury practice.
“I take my job very seriously,” Powell said. “My job is not a joke. I stand between people and these huge corporations … and I deliver justice.”
Powell grew up in a family where civil rights leadership instilled a desire to advocate for others, he said.
His father, Dr. Kenneth Powell II, a longtime St. Louis dentist, was active in the civil rights movement and, as a member of the Morehouse College Glee Club, sang at the funeral of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Family friends included prominent Black attorneys and civil rights leaders such as Wayman Smith, Frankie Muse Freeman, Margaret Bush Wilson and Charles R. Oldham.
Powell and his twin older sisters grew up in St. Louis County. His mother taught English in St. Louis Public Schools for more than 30 years. He later captained the men’s tennis team at the University of Kansas.
“Tennis is an individual sport. If I lose, it’s on me. If I win, that’s on me, too. I can’t pass the buck,” he said. “But no one’s going to out-work me. It’s a mindset of being relentless.”
Following graduation, Powell attended Saint Louis University School of Law on a Dean’s Scholarship. He later became a licensed sports agent representing professional baseball players before his legal career took a different turn.
The turning point came after his father was injured in a crash involving an 18-wheeler. At the time, Powell was practicing employment law and began searching for a Black-owned firm focused on catastrophic injury and trucking cases.
He couldn’t find one.
Instead, he partnered with family friend Johnny Simon of Simon Law, who introduced him to the complexities of trucking litigation.
“I learned from the best,” Powell recalled.
Simon said the admiration is mutual.
“Kenny is a terrific lawyer and an even better person,” Simon said. “He cares about his clients and it has been a great pleasure to work with him to help hold wrongdoers accountable.”
After working several cases with Simon, Powell launched his own firm in 2017 from a small shared office in Clayton.
Today, the firm handles personal injury, wrongful-death and trucking cases in Missouri and Illinois.
Powell was part of a legal team, including attorney Ben Crump, that represented victims and survivors following the 2021 collapse of an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, where six workers died after a tornado struck the facility.
More recently, he was part of a legal team that secured a $50 million wrongful-death settlement in a case involving the death of a young man whose family alleged a medical equipment provider failed to replace critical respiratory equipment after it malfunctioned.
One of Powell’s former clients, Ryan, who asked to be identified only by his first name because of the sensitive nature of his legal matter, recalled a case that required “legal expertise in multiple fields.”
“I was having a hard time getting a law firm that would listen to me because of the complex nature of the case,” Ryan said. “Kenneth Powell was the only attorney in St. Louis who was able to understand my entire legal situation and took the time to help me.”
When asked what being a lawyer means to him, Powell paused and exhaled deeply before answering.
“It’s a license to fight for justice,” he said. “It affords me the opportunity to go into a court of law and fight for justice with dignity. A lot of times the dignity part is left out.”
That commitment extends beyond the courtroom. Powell has partnered with organizations including the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, United Way, the Salvation Army, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Ecumenical Leadership Council.
“Kenny Powell has a strong commitment to the community,” said Michael P. McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. “He has worked with the Urban League and other organizations during COVID, tornado relief efforts and is engaged with us as we reopen our Cultural Center.”
Powell said he wants to create opportunities for young people.
“We’re creating a generational business where young Black and Brown students can see themselves accomplishing great things,” he said. “A firm that understands where they come from.”
The photograph in his office serves as a daily reminder of that mission.
“Although times are challenging, it reminds me every day that we’ve overcome much worse,” Powell said.
“It reminds me that I have an obligation to leave this world better than the way I found it.
“That’s why that picture’s on my wall.
“So I can see it, feel it.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.