John Watt, Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice

Member, Kansas City

John Watt co-chairs both the construction and product liability practice groups at his firm. His practice centers on defending businesses in complex, high-value litigation, including construction disputes, design professional liability, surety matters, commercial litigation, toxic torts and product liability.

Watt has first-chair jury trial experience in state and federal courts, appears before Missouri and Kansas appellate courts and has extensive experience arbitrating and mediating disputes. He is particularly skilled at taking and defending expert witness depositions across the country in high-value matters, having handled hundreds of expert, corporate representative and fact witness depositions. His trial experience encompasses troubled projects, surety indemnity matters, defective design and construction claims and trucking litigation.

Watt serves as chair of ALFA International’s Construction Practice Group and recently helped host the group’s regional seminar in Kansas City. He is a founding member of the Kansas City-area chapter of the National Utility Contractors Association and a member of the National Bond Claims Association and the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers.