Tort & Catastrophic Events

Our Tort & Catastrophic Events Litigation practice group continues the proud Armstrong Teasdale tradition of producing superior trial lawyers. For more than 100 years, our lawyers have enjoyed unparalleled success in both state and federal courts. Our lawyers have prevailed in cases of personal injury, insurance coverage, product liability, medical malpractice, professional malpractice, vehicular liability and premise liability, to name but a few.

Our lawyers obtained 3 of the top 14 defense verdicts in the State of Missouri in 2002 as well as the 5th largest plaintiff’s settlement. Five members of the Tort Litigation group are Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and 4 are listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of personal injury.

Practice Highlights

• We obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a manufacturer of a grain auger in which the plaintiff severely injured his hand;
• We successfully defended a water heater manufacturer in a multi-million dollar product liability case in which one small child burned to death and his four year-old brother suffered disfiguring burns over most of his body. After a three week trial, a jury in Leavenworth County, Kansas, returned a defense verdict for our client;
• We successfully defended an amusement park in a lawsuit by a woman who suffered very serious back and knee injuries in an accident on a ride. After a week long trial, a Clay County, Missouri, jury returned a defense verdict for our client. The case was ranked as the 4th biggest defense win in Missouri in 2001 by Missouri Lawyers Weekly;
• We successfully defended a security company and the off-duty police officers that it employed in a case in which several African American plaintiffs alleged that they were the victims of racial profiling and that they were thus falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted. They also alleged federal civil rights violations. They jury returned a defense verdict for our client following a two week trial in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City;
• We successfully defended the manufacturer of a pump used to unload tanker trucks that allegedly was installed backward because of insufficient instructions and thus spewed out a caustic alkali being run through it, blinding the plaintiff. A jury in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri sitting in Springfield returned a defense verdict for our client following a week long trial;
• We successfully defended two railroads in connection with a grade crossing accident in which a young father of two was killed. After a week long trial, a federal court jury sitting in Kansas City returned a defense verdict for our clients;
• We successfully defended the owner of a shopping center in a case in Johnson County, Kansas, in which a young man was paralyzed when he was shot by an assailant known to be affiliated with a local gang. The plaintiff alleged that the shopping center’s owner was negligent for failing to provide adequate security. A jury returned a defense verdict for our client after a three-week trial.
• We successfully defended an electric utility in an action brought by a laborer who sustained electric burns resulting in the loss of his dominant arm and the majority of his toes on both feet plus other substantial burns. After a two-week trial in the city of St. Louis, and plaintiffs’ request for a verdict in the sum of $14,000,000 the jury returned a defense verdict.
• We successfully defended a premises liability case brought by a construction worker who sustained multiple fractures to both feet resulting in permanent disability when the worker fell from a casting oven at a St. Louis foundry. Following a five-day trial in the City of St. Louis, and plaintiff’s request for 4 million dollars in damages, the jury returned a defense verdict.

Representative Matters

Defense of a variety of tort claims including:

Members of the Tort & Catastrophic Events Practice Group

Baudendistel, Karen	King, Melanie
Bryan, Maureen	Kovacs, Paul
Callenbach, Carlton	Lorenz-Moser, Amy
Caltagirone, Charles	Lowry, Kent
Carpenter, Dan	Melly, Sara
Cauwels, Teresa	Moore, Katie
Clinkinbeard, Karrie	Nicholson, Bryan
Corrigan, Bill	Nissenholtz, Todd
Fischer, Jo Leigh	Ochs, Megan
Fournie, Ray	Ott, Dave
Gearin, Tim	Quinn, Jack
Gundlach, Frank	Raleigh, Robert
Hanson, Sarah	Shorey, Matthew
Housley, Casey	Silker, Chad
Hursh, Lynn	Spalty, Ed
Iken, Greg	Stockberger, Jim
Jansen, Scott	Tucker, Larry
Jermann, David	Turner, Matt
Kaveney, Brian	Valentino, Jonathan
Kenny, Patrick	Virtel, Jim
Ketchum, Tyson	Weaver, Tom
King, Jerry	Wilson, Curtis