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V = verdict; S = settlement J = judgment. See notes under chart for information about some cases.
| Rank | Type | Value | Note | Date | Type of Action | Venue | Caption | Plaintiffs’ Attorneys |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S | $458,000,000 | 2/18/2022 | Product Liability | U.S., Northern District of Ohio | In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation | Eric Schmitt, Jeremiah Morgan and Jay Atkins, Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Jefferson City; Jack Garvey, Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, St. Louis; Derrick Good, Thurman Law Firm, Hillsboro; Eric Holland, Holland Law Firm, St. Louis; Robert Blitz, Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch, St. Louis; Brian J. Madden, Wagstaff & Cartmell, Kansas City; Jayne Conroy, Michael Angelides and Sarah Burns, Simmons Hanly Conroy, New York and Alton, Illinois; Matthew Dameron, Williams Dirks Dameron, Kansas City | |
| 2 | V | $177,000,000 | 10/14/2022 | Personal Injury | St. Louis City | Dugan v. Hyatt Corporation | Scott S. Bethune, Wes Shumate and Kevin Buchanan, Davis, Bethune & Jones, Kansas City; Rich McLeod, The McLeod Law Firm, Kansas City | |
| 3 | S | $117,500,000 | 10/11/2022 | Employment | Cole County | Hootselle v. Missouri Department of Corrections | Gary K. Burger, Burger Law, St. Louis; Michael J. Flannery, Cuneo Gilbert & Laduca, St. Louis; Fernando Bermudez, Bermudez Law STL, St. Louis | |
| 4 | S | $56,000,000 | 8/30/2022 | Product Liability | Jackson County | Jackson County v. Trinity Industries Inc. | Patrick Stueve, Bradley Wilders and Alex Ricke, Stueve Siegel Hanson, Kansas City; John Schirger, Joseph Feierabend and Matt Lytle, Miller Schirger, Kansas City | |
| 5 | S | $55,000,000 | 7/20/2022 | Product Liability | U.S., Western District of Missouri | Bishop v. DeLaval Inc. | Patrick Stueve, Bradley Wilders, Jillian Dent and K. Ross Merrill, Stueve Siegel Hanson, Kansas City | |
| 6 | V | $46,750,000 | 4/29/2022 | Personal Injury | U.S., Eastern District of Missouri | Scott v. Dyno Nobel Inc. | Brad Lakin and Rob Schmieder, SL Chapman, St. Louis | |
| 7 | A | $32,400,000 | 10/14/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision, Wrongful Death | Jackson County | Elwood v. Biscari | Tim Dollar, Dollar Burns Becker & Hershewe, Kansas City; David Frye, Lathrop GPM, Kansas City; David Smith, David R. Smith PC, Kansas City, Colin D. Stoner, cdstoner LLC, Kansas City; Michael Yonke, Yonke Law, Kansas City; Jarrett Johnson, The Jarrett Johnson Law Firm, Kansas City; Christopher Schaedig and Paul Casetta, Denenberg Tuffley, Southfield, Michigan | |
| 8 | V | $29,000,000 | (1) | 9/2/2022 | Product Liability | St. Francois County | Wolk and Meyer v. LumberDealers LLC | Joseph T. Neely and Ryan M. Hyde, Behr, McCarter, Potter, Neely & Hyde, Clayton |
| 9 | V | $28,362,831 | 12/9/2022 | Insurance | Jackson County | Karr v. Kansas City Life Insurance Company | Patrick Stueve, Ethan Lange, Lyndsay Perkins, David Hickey and Ben Stueve, Stueve Siegel Hanson, Kansas City; John J. Schirger, Matthew Lytle and Joseph M. Feierabend, Miller Schirger, Kansas City | |
| 10 | V | $25,400,000 | (2) | 3/30/2022 | Medical Malpractice | Jackson County | Harris v. Sandri | Joseph P. Cullan, Patrick J. Cullan and Ryan G. Terril, Cullan & Cullan, Kansas City |
| 11 | V | $23,042,341 | 8/11/2022 | Contracts | Cole County | HHS Technology Group Holdings LLC v. State of Missouri | Ken Barnes, Barnes Law Firm, Kansas City; Chuck Hatfield, Stinson, Jefferson City; Julian Dayal, Shawn Taylor, Clarissa Medrano and Elpitha Lambros, Akerman LLP, Chicago | |
| 12 | V | $20,025,000 | 8/5/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision, Wrongful Death | St. Charles County | Schultz v. Great Plains Trucking Inc. | Antoinette T. Schlapprizzi and Craig A. Schlapprizzi, Schlapprizzi Attorneys at Law, St. Louis; Christopher J. Finney and Alexander L. Ledbetter, Finney Injury Law, St. Louis | |
| 13 | V | $20,000,000 | 4/22/2022 | Personal Injury | U.S., Western District of Missouri | Keil v. Bearden | Susan McGraugh, John J. Ammann and Brendan D. Roediger, Saint Louis University School of Law; Jenifer C. Snow, The Law Offices of Joan M. Swartz, St. Louis | |
| 13 | V | $20,000,000 | 3/10/2022 | Asbestos | St. Louis City | Trokey v. Ford Motor Company | Daniel P. Blouin, Andrew S. Williams, Taylor Kerns, Cody Favilla, Shane F. Hampton and Philip E. Proud, Simmons Hanly Conroy, New York and Alton, Illinois | |
| 15 | S | $19,500,000 | 12/29/2022 | Product Liability | Phelps County | Ramsey-Standage v. Abbott Laboratories | David Steelman and Bryce Crowley, Steelman Gaunt Crowley, Rolla; Scott A. Kamber, KamberLaw, Denver, Colorado; L. DeWayne Layfield, Law Office of L. DeWayne Layfield, Beaumont, Texas; Lydia Sturgis Zbrzeznj and Nicholas Zbrzeznj, Southern Atlantic Law Group, Winter Haven, Florida; Joel Oster, Law Offices of Howard W. Rubinstein, Singer Island, Florida | |
| 16 | S | $13,750,000 | 6/1/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Jackson County | Confidential | Tom Hershewe and Tim Dollar, Dollar, Burns, Becker & Hershewe, Kansas City; Tom Dickerson and Chelsea Dickerson, Dickerson Oxton, Kansas City; Nick Hinrichs, Hinrichs & Scott, Kansas City | |
| 17 | S | $12,000,000 | 11/4/2022 | Personal Injury | St. Louis County | Cole v. The Kansas City Southern Railway Company | Nelson G. Wolff and Scott Gershenson, Schlicter Bogard & Denton, St. Louis | |
| 18 | V | $11,076,054 | 7/21/2022 | Employment | Jackson County | Wiseman v. Missouri Department of Corrections | Eric Playter and Chris Playter, Playter Trial Lawyers, Kansas City; David Lunceford, Lunceford Law Firm, Lee’s Summit | |
| 19 | S | $11,000,000 | 8/2/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision, Wrongful Death | St. Louis City | Confidential | Frank Niesen, Law Offices of Frank J. Niesen Jr., St. Louis | |
| 20 | V | $8,500,000 | 5/26/2022 | Medical Malpractice | U.S., Eastern District of Missouri | Smith v. Bentley | Brandon Gutshall, Charles C. Eblen and Lindsey Heinz, Shook Hardy & Bacon, Kansas City | |
| 21 | S | $8,300,000 | 3/31/2022 | Personal Injury | Jackson County | Esteban v. Kansas City Southern Railway Company | Nelson G. Wolff, Schlichter Bogard & Denton, St. Louis | |
| 22 | S | $7,200,000 | 1/6/2022 | Business/Commercial | U.S., Western District of Missouri | In re: Smitty’s/Cam2 303 Tractor Hydraulic Fluid Litigation | Tom Bender and Dirk Hubbard, Horn, Aylward & Bandy, Kansas City; Bryan White, Gene Graham and William Carr, White, Graham, Buckley & Carr, Independence; Clayton Jones, Raymore; Tricia Campbell, Langdon & Emison, Lexington; Athena Dickson, Siro Smith Dickson, Kansas City; Jon D. Robinson and Zachary T. Anderson, Bolen Robinson & Ellis, Decatur, Illinois; John G. Emerson, Emerson Firm, Houston, Texas; Mark. P. Bryant, Bryant Law Center, Paducah, Kentucky; Christopher D. Jennings, Johnson Firm, Little Rock, Arkansas; Stephen R. Basser; Barrack, Rodos & Bacine, San Diego, California; Paul D. Lundberg, Lundberg Law Firm, Sioux City, Iowa; Travis A. Griffith, Griffith Law Center, Charleston, West Virginia; James E. Malters, Malters, Shepher & Von Holtum, Worthington, Minnesota | |
| 23 | V | $6,984,515 | 4/22/2022 | Employment | Jackson County | Caster v. Jackson County | David Lunceford, Lunceford Law Firm, Lee’s Summit; Dennis Egan, The Popham Law Firm, Kansas City | |
| 24 | V | $6,693,619 | 10/21/2022 | Contracts | Jackson County | Grand Prix LLC v. LB One LLC | Wesley Carrillo and Matthew Gist, Ensz & Jester, Kansas City | |
| 25 | J | $6,040,846 | 9/21/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Clay County | Paulick v. Allinder | Scott S. Bethune, Wes Shumate and Jared Brown, Davis, Bethune & Jones, Kansas City | |
| 26 | S | $6,000,000 | 5/13/2022 | Property Damage | Platte County | Strohm v. Missouri-American Water Company | Matthew L. Dameron and Amy R. Jackson, Williams Dirks Dameron, Kansas City | |
| 27 | A | $6,000,000 | (3) | 10/19/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision, Wrongful Death | Douglas County | Smith v. Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission | Lynn Henry, Henry & Williams, West Plains; Brennan Delaney, Langdon & Emison, Lexington |
| 28 | S | $5,971,733 | 9/26/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision, Wrongful Death | Franklin County | Adams v. Ice Cream Factory LLC | Richard Zalasky and Kristine Bridges, Brown & Crouppen, St. Louis; Thomas Neill, Gray Ritter & Graham, St. Louis | |
| 29 | V | $5,008,000 | (4) | 10/3/2022 | Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death | St. Louis City | Stephens v. Saint Louis University | Morgan Murphy and David Zevan, Zevan Davidson Roman, St. Louis; Richard Banks; Banks and Associates, St. Louis |
| 30 | S | $5,000,000 | 8/24/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision, Wrongful Death | St. Charles County | Woodall v. J&C Enterprises Inc. | Joshua Myers, Schultz & Myers, St. Louis; Craig Ortwerth; Ortwerth Law, St. Louis; Timothy Philipp, Timothy P. Philipp PC, St. Louis | |
| 31 | S | $4,500,000 | 6/22/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Confidential | Confidential | Kirk Presley and Matthew McCoy, Presley & Presley, Kansas City; Annette Griggs, Griggs Injury Law, Kansas City; Aaron M. House, House Law, Kansas City | |
| 32 | V | $3,325,000 | (5) | 10/21/2022 | Personal Injury | St. Louis County | Crowder v. Ingram Barge Company | Patrick Bader and Jacob Murov, Bader & Murov, St. Louis |
| 33 | V | $3,323,665 | (6) | 4/9/2022 | Employment | Cole County | Qualls v. Missouri House of Representatives | Cyrus Dashtaki, Dashtaki Law Firm, St. Louis; Nimrod Chapel, Chapel Law Group, Jefferson City |
| 34 | S | $3,300,000 | 1/21/2022 | Premises Liability, Wrongful Death | Confidential | Confidential | Amanda N. Murphy and Shaun M. Falvey, Goldblatt + Singer, Clayton | |
| 35 | V | $3,100,000 | 3/4/2022 | Premises Liability, Wrongful Death | St. Louis City | Garcia v. Mills Properties Inc. | Kevin Carnie Jr. and Patrick McPhail, The Simon Law Firm, St. Louis | |
| 36 | V | $3,000,000 | 3/31/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | St. Louis City | Wehner v. Raineri Building Materials | Alan Mandel and Michael Sudekum, Mandel, Mandel, Marsh, Sudekum & Sanger, St. Louis | |
| 36 | V | $3,000,000 | (7) | 7/29/2022 | Medical Malpractice | St. Louis County | Young v. Abbott | Jeremy Gogel, Gogel Law Firm, St. Louis; Nolan Drafahl, Drafahl Law Firm, St. Louis |
| 38 | V | $2,923,535 | (8) | 3/16/2022 | Employment | St. Louis City | Vacca v. Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations | Joan M. Swartz and Jenifer C. Snow, The Law Offices of Joan M. Swartz, St. Louis; Ryan Shaughnessy, Shaughnessy Law Firm, St. Louis |
| 39 | S | $2,800,000 | 2/8/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Confidential | Confidential | Steve Gorny, The Gorny Law Firm, Kansas City | |
| 40 | V | $2,600,000 | 4/13/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Linn County | Courtney v. White | Wm. Dirk Vandever, The Popham Law Firm, Kansas City; Andrew Gelbach, Warrensburg | |
| 41 | S | $2,570,000 | 11/1/2022 | Product Liability | Jackson County | Snyder v. United Brands Corp. | Johnny M. Simon, The Simon Law Firm, St. Louis | |
| 42 | V | $2,417,669 | 3/4/2022 | Business/Commercial | St. Louis County | CMS Communications Inc. v. Luina | Rob Schultz, The Schultz Law Group, Chesterfield | |
| 43 | V | $2,150,000 | 11/18/2022 | Employment | Cole County | Newman v. Missouri Department of Corrections | Julianne Germinder and Joanna Trachtenberg, TGH Litigation, Columbia | |
| 44 | S | $2,055,000 | 3/15/2022 | Civil Rights, Wrongful Death | U.S., Eastern District of Missouri | Sanders v. Mississippi County | Samuel M. Wendt, Wendt Law Firm, Kansas City; Michael Hoskins, Law Office of Michael G. Hoskins, Nashville, Tennessee | |
| 45 | V | $2,000,000 | 6/9/2022 | Employment | St. Louis County | Doe v. KTRS-AM, LLC | Benjamin Westhoff, Donna Harper and Erin Lueker, Sedey Harper Westhoff, St. Louis | |
| 46 | S | $2,000,000 | 9/12/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | St. Louis County | Henry v. Steuby | Gary K. Burger, Burger Law, St. Louis | |
| 47 | S | $2,000,000 | 4/8/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision, Wrongful Death | Platte County | Dudley v. Sprint Lumber Inc. | Pamela Welch and Jeremy Webb, Welch & Webb, Platte City | |
| 48 | V | $2,000,000 | 10/25/2022 | Wrongful Death | Cape Girardeau County | Underwood v. Bollinger County | Jacob Lawrence and Matthew Glenn, Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz, Cape Girardeau | |
| 49 | V | $2,000,000 | (9) | 5/18/2022 | Personal Injury | St. Louis City | Johnson v. McCormack Baron Management Inc. | Douglas Ponder and Jaclyn Zimmermann, Ponder Zimmermann, St. Louis |
| 50 | V | $1,860,000 | 5/5/2022 | Medical Malpractice | U.S., Eastern District of Missouri | Brown v. Hoffman | G. Michael Fatall, Kansas City | |
| 51 | V | $1,854,278 | 3/18/2022 | Employment | Jackson County | Johnson v. City of Kansas City | Cooper S. Mach and Bert Braud, The Popham Law Firm, Kansas City | |
| 52 | V | $1,810,000 | 11/11/2022 | Employment | St. Louis City | Ligon v. Ttri-Star Imports Inc. | Benjamin Westhoff, Mary Anne Sedey and Erin Lueker, Sedey Harper Westhoff, St. Louis | |
| 53 | S | $1,625,000 | 8/1/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | St. Louis County | Confidential | Brent A. Sumner, Sumner Law Group, Clayton; Ben Sansone, Sansone & Lauber, Clayton | |
| 54 | S | $1,500,000 | 9/1/2022 | Civil Rights | U.S., Western District of Missouri | White v. Curley | William K. Denning and Paeten K. Denning, Denning Law Firm, Overland Park, Kansas; John Kurtz, Hubbard & Kurtz, Kansas City | |
| 54 | V | $1,500,000 | 4/27/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Linn County | Toney v. White | Wm. Dirk Vandever, The Popham Law Firm, Kansas City; Andrew Gelbach, Warrensburg | |
| 54 | S | $1,500,000 | 4/28/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | St. Charles County | Parrinello v. Schumaker | Amanda N. Murphy, Goldblatt + Singer, St. Louis | |
| 57 | V | $1,351,373 | (10) | 3/17/2022 | Civil Rights | Jasper County | Jane Doe G.C. v. Joplin School District | Dan Curry and Sarah Brown, Brown & Curry, Kansas City |
| 58 | S | $1,300,000 | 3/7/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Pettis County | Waller v. Parman | Josh Margolis, Muchnick Haber Margolis, St. Louis | |
| 59 | V | $1,300,000 | 12/1/2022 | Personal Injury | St. Louis City | Jackson v. First Student Inc. | Jeremy Gogel, Gogel Law Firm, St. Louis; Nolan Drafahl, Drafahl Law Firm, St. Louis | |
| 60 | V | $1,287,853 | (11) | 2/24/2022 | Civil Rights | U.S., Eastern District of Missouri | Gerling v. Waite | Kevin Carnie Jr. and Patrick McPhail, The Simon Law Firm, St. Louis; David Welder, Norris Keplinger Hicks & Welder, Leawood, Kansas |
| 61 | S | $1,250,000 | 3/3/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | St. Charles County | Flavin v. Hoette Farms Nursery | Kevin J. Roach, Law Offices of Kevin J. Roach, Chesterfield | |
| 62 | S | $1,200,000 | 9/8/2022 | Civil Rights | U.S., Eastern District of Missouri | Malcich v. St. Louis County | J.C. Pleban and Ben Kates, Pleban & Associates Law, St. Louis | |
| 63 | S | $1,200,000 | 2/1/2022 | Landlord-Tenant | Phelps County | Younker v. Investment Realty Inc. | Robert E. Caldwell Jr., Wilhite, Rose, McClure & Sawaya, Denver, Colorado; Dan J. McMichael, McMichael, Logan, Schaeffer, & Gilpin, Kirkwood | |
| 64 | S | $1,075,000 | 10/27/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | St. Charles County | McKeown v. Davis | Greg Klote and Joel Halvorsen, Halvorsen Klote, St. Louis | |
| 65 | S | $1,002,500 | 2/28/2022 | Insurance | Jackson County | Distinction Roofing LLC v. Smart Insurance Solutions LLC | Ben Schmitt and Melody Roberts, Schmitt Law Firm, Kansas City | |
| 66 | S | $1,000,000 | 6/8/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Boone County | Janicki v. Tinker | EC Duckworth, The AW Smith Law Firm, Columbia | |
| 66 | S | $1,000,000 | 5/20/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | St. Louis County | Confidential | Michael J. Dalton Jr., O’Leary, Shelton, Corrigan, Peterson, Dalton & Quillin, St. Louis | |
| 66 | S | $1,000,000 | 4/28/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Butler County | Confidential | Mary Simon, The Simon Law Firm, St. Louis | |
| 66 | V | $1,000,000 | 12/7/2022 | Personal Injury | Jackson County | Smith v. Raytown Water Company | John E. Turner, Turner, Sweeny & Seaton, Kansas City; Kenneth D. Kinney, Ralston Kinney, Kansas City | |
| 66 | S | $1,000,000 | 9/27/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | St. Louis City | Flowers v. APL Cargo Inc. | Patrick Bader and Jacob Murov, Bader & Murov, St. Louis | |
| 66 | S | $1,000,000 | 8/16/2022 | Premises Liability | Confidential | Confidential | Richard Fisk, Beam-Ward, Kruse, Wilson & Fletes, Overland Park, Kansas | |
| 72 | V | $1,000,000 | (12) | 4/6/2022 | Motor Vehicle Collision | Scott County | Martin v. Peters | Brent Sumner and Andrew Martin, Sumner Law Group, St. Louis |
| 73 | V | $1,000,000 | (13) | 10/5/2022 | Premises Liability | St. Louis County | Rode v. Network of Applied Concepts Inc. | James P. Krupp and Ryan J. Krupp, Krupp Law Firm, St. Louis |
NOTES:
- Reduced post-trial to $27,500,000 by judge
- Reduced post-trial to $20,824,653 based on state damage cap
- Reduced post-trial to $919,786 based on state damage cap
- Reduced post-trial to $1,543,671 based on state damage cap
- Reduced to $2,50,000 due to allocation of fault
- Includes $1,121,591 post-trial award of attorneys’ fees and costs
- Reduced post-trial to $1,637,392 based on state damage cap
- Includes $1,563,535 post-trial award of attorneys’ fees and costs
- Reduced to $800,000 due to allocation of fault
- Includes $534,373 post-trial award of attorneys’ fees and costs
- Includes $637,852 post-trial award of attorneys’ fees and costs
- Reduced to $700,000 due to allocation of fault
- Reduced to $340,000 due to allocation of fault
Correction: A $12,000,000 jury verdict from St. Louis County that we reported in November 2022 was omitted from our original chart. It has been added as the 17th largest plaintiffs’ win and subsequent rankings have been adjusted accordingly. We regret the error.
Missouri Lawyers Awards 2023
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Top V&S: Article | Top winners | Plaintiff wins | Defense wins | Digital edition | Past editions
