Departments

Phone: 816.374.0599
Fax: 816.374.0509

James M Humphrey

Shareholder
James M. Humphrey is a shareholder with the firm and has more than ten years of experience, which includes business and appellate litigation; antitrust; shareholder disputes; officer and director liability; over five years of experience defending legal malpractice claims; class actions; contract disputes, insurance coverage litigation; fraud; and RICO claims.  He also has extensive products liability and personal injury experience, including consumer products, industrial products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electrical accidents.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Humphrey served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gary A. Fenner, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He has made numerous appearances in Missouri’s federal and state courts, as well as various other jurisdictions, and has represented clients located throughout the United States.

 

Selected as a Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2008 and 2009 for Business Litigation.

Memberships and Affiliations

  • The Missouri Bar
  • American Bar Association
  • Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
  • Lawyers Association of Kansas City
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers
  • Lawyers Association of Kansas City, Member
    • Board of Directors (2007-2010)
    • Secretary (2010-2011)
  • Jackson County Law Library, Member, Board of Directors (2009-present)
  • Rotary Club 13 of Kansas City, Missouri, Member
  • Graduate, Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Northland Class of 2006
  • Graduate, Greater Kansas City Bar Leadership Academy
  • Ross T. Roberts Inn of Court

Distinctions

  • Honored as a 2009 Up and Coming Lawyer by Missouri Lawyers Weekly
  • Mr. Humphrey was selected as a Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2008 and 2009 for Business Litigation.  Rising Stars identifies the top 2.5 percent of up and coming lawyers as chosen by their peers and through independent research by Law & Politics.   
  • Assistant Editor, Creighton Law Review
  • Golden Key National Honor Society

Experience

  • Significant past and current representation of lawyers and law firms against claims of professional negligence.
  • Representation of former directors, officers and other high-level employees of life insurance company (formerly the largest domestic insurance company in Missouri until liquidity crisis caused sale of company) in connection with lawsuit brought by State of Missouri (Department of Insurance) against, among other defendants, Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co.
  • Secured dismissal of antitrust claims under Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Kansas state law brought by physician against hospital in Kansas federal district court.
  • Represented plaintiff in lawsuit seeking recovery against primary and excess insurers under property insurance policy with claim for coverage of approximately $285 million.
  • Successfully defended judgment in favor of insurer on appeal in case claiming coverage for defense costs incurred in litigation between Anheuser-Busch and Labatt Brewing Company.  Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd. v. Zurich Ins. Co., 281 A.D.2d 363, 723 N.Y.S.2d 17 (N.Y. App. Div. 2001).
  • Successfully defeated certification of a class of current and former employees alleging various employment claims.  Lang v. Kansas City Power & Light Co., 199 F.R.D. 640 (W.D. Mo. 2001).  Also successfully opposed plaintiffs’ attempt to secure appellate review of certification decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
  • Represented minority shareholder in lawsuit seeking dissolution of corporation.
  • Successfully represented defendant on appeal from an adverse jury verdict on fraud claim.  Plaintiff’s verdict reversed and vacated, and judgment entered in favor of client.  Mprove, Inc. v. KLT, Inc., 135 S.W.3d 481 (Mo. App. W.D. 2004).
  • Representation of electric utility in defense of personal-injury lawsuits based on contacts with electrical transmission and distribution lines.
  • Representation of pharmaceutical company in products-liability litigation involving hormone replacement therapy drugs, including involvement in multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceeding pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.  In re: Prempro Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 4:03CV1507 WRW (E.D. Ark.).
  • Ongoing representation of food flavor manufacturer in products-liability litigation based on exposure to butter flavoring used in manufacture of microwave popcorn.
  • Co-author amicus curiae appellate briefs in U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Courts of Appeals.