For more than 100 years, a substantial part of Lathrop & Gage’s practice has been in personal injury, product liability, intentional tort and negligence litigation. Our Tort Litigation Department is one of the largest in the Midwest and is well recognized for its trial practice in many fields. We have handled cases resulting in significant changes in tort law, including the adoption of the concept of comparative negligence in Missouri, and spearheading significant changes in the Kansas comparative negligence law. Our attorneys are involved with prominent organizations such as the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA) and the Product Liability Advisory Counsel (PLAC). One of our attorneys is a member of the Missouri Supreme Court Civil Jury Instruction Committee.

For the past 35 years, Lathrop & Gage has actively represented the trucking and freight industries in various types of actions.   We currently represent several Midwestern-based freight companies and automobile haulers.  Our lawyers have significant experience handling freight claims, including damaged cargo claims, misdelivery of time-sensitive shipments and recovery of unpaid freight charges.  In addition, we have 130 years of experience representing railroads in personal injury, freight claims and other actions.  We are nationally recognized for our work representing and counseling railroads in catastrophic personal injury claims and other litigation. In fact, we still represent our first-ever client, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway (now known as BNSF Railway Company), and we’ve represented many other clients for well over a century.

The attorneys in Lathrop & Gage’s Tort Litigation Department are highly experienced at handling wrongful death claims, when the stakes are highest. We regularly work with special experts to explain complex accident dynamics and other issues to juries that are typically predisposed against our clients.  We frequently work with in-house and outside technical experts and have substantial experience in fire, explosion and electrical claims.

Simply put, our lawyers have more than a century of experience representing large, corporate clients who are exposed to catastrophic damages before juries throughout the United States.  In the current economic and political climate, our experience is invaluable.  We are not afraid to try a case that has to be tried. We are used to working within budgets and clearly understand how to maximize the benefits of legal expenses for the client.  Our central Midwest location and regional offices adjacent to large transportation corridors allow us to serve economically a very broad area.