Missouri’s Top 20 Law Firms 2024: Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch

Largest Settlement in Missouri

 St. Louis’ loss of the Rams football team remains a trauma for that city, but the $790 million settlement won in the wake of its departure has helped.

The law firm of Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch led a breach-of-contract lawsuit by the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, which operated the team’s arena prior to the Rams move to Los Angeles in 2016.

The suit, which was litigated for years largely behind closed doors, was nearing trial when the parties reached the settlement in late 2021 with the team, Rams owner Stan Kroenke and the National Football League. It is the largest settlement achieved in a Missouri court, according to Missouri Lawyers Media’s Verdicts & Settlements database.

Under a tentative agreement announced in November, the city of St. Louis will get up to $280 million, St. Louis County will get $169 million, and the Regional Sports Authority will get $70 million.

Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch name partner Bob Blitz has a long history with the Rams. He helped bring the team to St. Louis in 1995, and in 2014 he co-led the ultimately unsuccessful effort to keep St. Louis as an NFL city with a proposal to build a stadium.