When a company’s fate is on the line with complex cases, partner Bob Thompson is among the best go-to guys at Bryan Cave, where he’s been involved in major antitrust and class-action cases at both the state and federal level, and until last year was the firm’s managing partner. Larry Frazen and Robert Hoffman are two other key figures in litigation; Frazen now serves as the firms managing partner and unravels the complexities of bankruptcy proceedings across the country, representing debtors, creditors, and other interested parties, while Hoffman works on behalf of defendants and plaintiffs in class action lawsuits, multi-district litigation and other key cases largely involving financial institutions, retailers, manufacturers and clients in professional services. Like Craig O’Dear, Irv Belzer and William Perry Brandt, all cited here last year, they are key figures in the firm’s litigation group.
Husch Blackwell’s Jeff Simon answers the call of business litigation, addressing a wide range of business disputes, including breach of contract or warranty, intellectual property claims, partnership and shareholder disagreements, product liability cases, software licensing, or matters involving real estate, health care and regulatory matters—for starters. William Lynch—more informally known as Spike—is a veteran of nearly 40 years in the field, and has tried more than 70 cases before juries, often in class action, multi-party litigation, breach of fiduciary duties, breach of contract and other business torts. He also chairs the business litigation department. Larry McMullen is another 40-year veteran now serving as Of Counsel to the firm by bringing a rich history of defending professional liability cases in the fields of medicine, law and engineering. In that same space last year, we noted Jim Griffin.
Karl Zobrist probably made more headlines with his off-duty work on Kansas City’s Board of Police Commissioners, but he’s a key figure in the energy practice at Dentons, where his expertise is brought to bear on cases involving both the energy and telecommunications industries, including regulatory cases and class-action litigation. He works at the firm with previously recognized talents like Curtis Woods and Jerome Wolf. Stephen Hill and Patrick McInerney—now with Dentons—were recognized in this space last year.
Tom Sterchi and Scott Kreamer are top-level litigators for Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice, whose co-namesake, John Cowden, was noted here last year. Sterchi, a founding member, has a winning record in defending makers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, vehicles appliances and consumer products in both state and federal courts. Kreamer’s areas of concentration are commercial and construction law, and he serves clients in financial services and insurance sectors, as well as product liability and tort litigation.
A triumvirate of class-action and mass tort acumen is at work for the firm of Davis, Bethune & Jones: Namesakes Grant Davis, Scott Bethune and Tom Jones, all dealing with product liability and related casework. Davis also deals in cases of personal injury and medical negligence; Bethune in professional negligence, premises liability, lead-paint litigation and cases involving automobile and tractor-trailer litigation; and Jones, with a long history of handling lawsuits stemming from rail crossing accidents, specializes not only in railroad litigation and personal injury cases, but instances of professional negligence and potential class-action claims.
Nearly half a century of legal experience has made Deacy and Deacy’s Spencer Brown an experienced litigator in what’s known as bet-the-company cases, where the very existence of a corporation hangs in the legal balance. His other practice areas include commercial litigation, energy law, legal malpractice law and personal-injury litigation.
Floyd Finch formed a practice on his own after 30 years with the firm that has morphed into Husch Blackwell, and his work at the Floyd Finch Law Offices takes this Harvard Law grad into cases of antitrust litigation, accounting and legal malpractice, business and commercial litigation, intellectual property disputes, white-collar criminal defense and more.
Jim Foland, of Foland, Wickens, Eisfelder, Roper & Hofer, began his law career 40 years ago, and since then has served as lead counsel in more than 150 jury trials. Those cases have given him a broad expertise in personal injury or product liability lawsuits, medical and legal malpractice claims, employment discrimination, or insurance and contractual disputes.
Scott Nehrbass of Foulston Siefkin represents clients in a wide range of business and tort litigation matters, whether in state, federal or appeals courts. Last year, he was deemed Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year in the Kansas City market by Best Lawyers in America, which collaborates with Ingram’s to produce Best Lawyers in Kansas City each year.
In addition to serving as managing partner of Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer in Topeka for 20 years, Arthur Palmer has built a solid track record of success in employment law, real estate and business litigation, and he’s as likely to be found in a mediation or arbitration setting as in a courtroom. He’s also a former assistant attorney general in Kansas.
Ken McClain, of Independence-based Humphrey, Farrington & McClain, is well-known for his—and his firm’s—successes in securing large judgments for clients, including multimillion-dollar settlements stemming from workplace claims of “popcorn lung disease” caused by diacetyl vapors from microwave popcorn. With clients nationwide, he focuses on personal injury, asbestos and toxic tort cases.
Diane Nygaard’s dexterity with issues involving securities law has paid off handsomely for clients of Kenner Schmitt Nygaard; she was co-lead counsel the Kinder Morgan case that yielded a $200 million settlement in 2010, but she’s also had key roles in other mega-million outcomes. Working on behalf of pension plans, retirement plans, trusts, estates, and individuals in class actions, she holds her opponents accountable for C-suite fraud and other willful improprieties.
From labor law to immigration cases, in court or before regulatory bodies, Carl Gallagher brings a diverse set of skills to McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips, working with clients to avoid litigation and representing them when it becomes necessary. The firm turns to Greg Goheen for cases of complex civil litigation. An award-winning student of antitrust law even in law school, Goheen specializes in commercial and business litigation, including employment cases, real estate law, education, civil rights, and constitutional law.
Few firms evoke the kind of respect accorded to Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson and Gorny. Founding partner Jim Bartimus, a former medical school student, has won major awards dating back to his work with the Hyatt collapse settlement; Jim Frickleton and Steve Gorny helped obtain the seventh-largest trial verdict in the nation, and Gorny has to his credit the largest non-punitive, wrongful death verdict in Missouri history and the largest verdict ever in Cass County.
Last year in this vital practice specialty, we introduced you to a pair of skilled litigators from Wyrsch, Hobbs, Mirakian in Jim Hobbs and Jim Wyrsch; Armstrong Teasdale managing partner Larry Tucker; Foulston Seifkin’s James Oliver; a strong quartet of litigators from Rouse Hendricks German May in Randall Hendricks, Kirk May, Charles German and Bill Beil; and Thomas Bath of Bath & Edmonds.
And finally, a category not represented this year is environmental law, which last year yielded highly regarded lawyers as W.C. Blanton of Husch Blackwell; the Shook, Hardy & Bacon team of David Erickson, Thomas Grever, Terry Satterlee and Mark Anstoetter; Spencer Fane Britt & Browne’s James Price, Michael Hockley and Baerbel Schiller; David Tripp, Sarah Toevs Sullivan and Stacy Stotts of Stinson Morrison Hecker; Bill Beck, Bill Ford and Thomas Ryan of Lathrop & Gage.
Return to Ingram's May 2013