Palmer Gene Vance II
Lexington, KY
Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC
Transylvania University, B.A.
University of Kentucky College of Law, J.D.
Gene Vance, a Member in the Lexington office, has been with Stoll Keenon Ogden since 1995. He is a member of the Business Litigation Practice Group, as well as the Tort, Trial and Insurance Services Practice Group, and the Intellectual Property Practice Group. Gene maintains an active trial and dispute resolution practice focusing on business and commercial litigation, products liability litigation, toxic tort litigation, copyright and intellectual property litigation, trucking and transportation litigation, and insurance coverage litigation. He serves as chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.
Gene has received an AV Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating © and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and as a Kentucky Super Lawyer based upon his experience and ability. He has also been listed in the International Who’s Who of Commercial Litigators since 2013.
Gene represents several large consumer goods and industrial products manufacturers and has defended products liability matters throughout Kentucky and in other jurisdictions. He has defended toxic tort claims including asbestos, benzene and styrene exposure cases, as well as pharmaceutical claims.
His business litigation experience includes disputes in the automotive, environmental, equine, mining and construction industries. Gene previously represented a manufacturer of shipping containers in industry wide products liability litigation and served as Kentucky counsel for several pharmaceutical companies involved in pricing litigation with the Kentucky Attorney General.
His intellectual property practice has included representation of an international trade association in copyright infringement litigation throughout the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Gene’s trucking industry experience includes representation of national, regional and local motor carriers, as well as representation of a number of trucking insurance companies including the largest underwriter of trucking insurance in Canada. His experience with insurance matters includes significant coverage litigation, as well as claims for extra-contractual damages, for domestic carriers as well as several underwriting syndicates at Lloyd’s, London. Gene’s national practice has included handling matters before courts in Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
Gene currently is Chair of the American Bar Association House of Delegates for the 2022-24 term. He served as Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation, the largest section in the ABA, in 2018-19. He has been active in the Section’s leadership since 2003, previously serving as the Section’s Revenue Officer as a Managing Director of the Section and co-chairing the Section’s 2009 Annual Meeting.
Since 2001, Gene has served in the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association and was the Kentucky State Delegate from 2013-2022. From 2010-12, he served as Chair of the House Committee on Rules & Calendar. He has chaired or co-chaired three ABA Presidential Appointments Committees. From 2012-15, he served as Chair of the Council of the ABA’s charitable arm, the Fund for Justice and Education. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of both the American Bar Endowment and the American Bar Foundation. Gene is a member of the Defense Research Institute and the American Counsel Association.
Gene served as President of the Fayette County Bar Association in 2013-14 and has also held a number of positions with the Kentucky Bar Association, including as a member of the Board of Governors and as Chair of its Young Lawyers Division.
Active within the community, Gene serves on the Board of Trustees at Transylvania University where he chairs the Academic Affairs Committee and serves on the Executive Committee. He is Treasurer of Legal Aid of the Bluegrass. He is a past president of the Omicron Delta Kappa Foundation and continues as a member of the Board of Trustees. From 2011-13, he was Vice-Chair of the Lexington Fayette Police and Fire Pension Task Force. He previously served as a trustee of the Delta Sigma Phi Foundation and on boards of various other non-profits in Kentucky. In 2013, Gene’s community service was recognized with presentation of the Difference Makers Award from the American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division.
