Top Verdicts & Settlements 2019: Significant wins from beyond Missouri courts

Scott Lauck//February 3, 2020//

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Missouri Lawyers Media’s Verdicts & Settlements database welcomes submissions from Missouri attorneys who won cases in other states’ courts. Although they aren’t included in our annual rankings, here are some of the cases we tracked from outside the state:

Norman Siegel of Kansas City-based Steuve Siegel Hanson played a leading role in securing a historic $1.5 billion settlement in the massive data breach at Equifax. The nationwide class action was resolved in federal court in Georgia.
Simmons Hanly Conroy won a $34 million verdict, including $25.5 million in punitive damages, against Ford Motor Company in an asbestos case in California. John Richardson of the firm’s Alton, Illinois, office was part of the trial team.
Grant Davis, Tom Jones, Tim Gaarder and John Carroll of Davis, Bethune & Jones in Kansas City won a $13.2 million jury verdict for a truck driver who was injured in a train collision in North Dakota. The same team won a $9 million award from an Oklahoma jury in a fatal train collision. Both verdicts were reduced by comparative fault.
Richard Gerber of Evans & Dixon in St. Louis negotiated a nearly $11 million settlement with two contractors who caused a fire at a historic Ohio school. The settlement, which will help to cover the cost of repairing the school, was reached prior to litigation.
David B. Helms and Benjamin Mooneyham of German May reached a $10.1 million settlement in Indiana on behalf of USIC. The underground utilities locator accused a competitor of hiring former employees who allegedly had stolen trade secrets.
Dan Curry of Brown & Curry in Kansas City represented 82 abuse victims of a former physician assistant at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Kansas. The U.S. government paid $6.97 million to settle the claims.
T.J. Preuss, Shawn Foster and Luke Hangge of Preuss Foster Law of Leawood, Kansas, reached a $3 million settlement for the family of a teenager who suffered a traumatic brain injury while in a Kansas county jail.
Michael A. Kahn, Lauren Cohen and Jonathan Jones of Capes Sokol in St. Louis persuaded a jury to award $2.78 million in damages on claims that the song “Dark Horse” by pop star Katy Perry infringed on a beat written by Christian recording artists.
Kathleen Fisher, Dane Martin and Andrew Alexander of Graves Garrett in Kansas City negotiated a $2.75 million settlement for a Nebraska high school student who was molested by her high school golf coach.
Erin Vorhees and Roger A. Johnson of Johnson, Vorhees & Martucci in Joplin won a $1.71 million jury verdict for an acid reflux patient whose esophagus was torn during surgery in Arkansas.