Eric began his career as an associate at Kansas City's largest law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon. At Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Eric represented well-known corporate clients in the areas of products liability, class actions and complex litigation. Eric joined Stueve Siegel Hanson in 2005 where he now spends his time representing consumers, workers, retirees and small-to-mid size businesses. Eric's litigation practice includes: class actions, products liability, wage and hour, commercial litigation, trademark and copyright infringement and antitrust.

Eric attended the University of Iowa for law school where he received his J.D., with high distinction and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Eric received his B.A. in English from the University of Kansas in 1999. Before college, Eric enlisted in the United States Army Reserves where he was a medic and went on to obtain the rank of Sergeant.

EXAMPLES OF ERIC'S RECENT CASES AT STUEVE SIEGEL HANSON

The following is a representative example of some of the cases Eric has recently prosecuted:

Overlap, Inc. v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. -- Eric tried this case before a Jackson County, Missouri jury who awarded approximately $7.1 million (pre-merger) to a computer software developer for breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation.  Plaintiff Overlap, Inc. claimed that A.G. Edwards violated its software license agreement by loading the software on more than fifty computers and then making the reports from the software available to all of its stock brokers.  Plaintiff further alleged that the defendant had misrepresented the nature and extent of its use of the software.  At trial, Overlap, Inc., argued that A.G. Edwards knew that it was prohibited from sharing the reports generated by the software with its brokers, but nevertheless continued to use it in such a manner without telling plaintiff.  Defendant A.G. Edwards argued that the terms of the software license agreement permitted its use of the software.  The trial lasted eight days and after two hours of deliberation, the jury found in favor of plaintiff Overlap.  Among the jury's awards was a punitive damages award for $2.3 million. 

Garcia, et. al. v. Tyson Foods, Inc. et. al. -- Eric tried this case before a Kansas jury who found in favor of a class of workers at Tyson's Holcomb, Kansas beef packing plant.  The plaintiffs alleged they were not paid for the time they spent putting on and taking off protective clothing and gear and the time they spent walking throughout the huge meat processing facilities.  The plaintiffs won a major victory in defeating Tyson's bid for summary judgment and the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Tyson's appeal after extensive briefing on the issue.  The trial court granted class and collective action certification of a class of approximately 5,000 workers.  In March 2011, a federal jury in Kansas found against Tyson Foods and Tyson Fresh Meats for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Kansas Wage Payment Act (KWPA) and awarded classwide damages.

In re Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Overtime Pay Litigation -- Eric represented a class of loan originators who were classified as ineligible for overtime pay. The case lasted more than four years and included an appeal taken by Wells Fargo to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The case settled for $20 million in 2010.

In re Wells Fargo Loan Processor Overtime Litigation -- Eric represents a class of non-exempt team members who allege they were not fully compensated for the time they spent working for Wells Fargo. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and the Court has preliminarily approved a settlement.

Perry v. National City -- Eric represented a certified class of current and former loan officers employed by National City Bank in a wage and hour collective action pending in the Southern District of Illinois.  In  2007, the Honorable David H. Herndon certified a collective action consisting of approximately 4,500 current and former National City loan officers.  After extensive summary judgment and related briefing, the parties reached a Court-approved class settlement in the amount of $27.5 million.

Garner v. Regis Corporation -- Eric represented approximately 1,300 current and former salon managers and stylists in a certified wage and hour collective action against Regis Corporation, the world's largest owner and operator of hair and retail product salons.  The case was settled for a confidential amount in 2006.

Marshall v. R.J. Reynolds -- Eric represented a class of retail representatives employed by R.J. Reynolds. The case settled for a confidential amount in 2010.

Eddings v. HealthNet -- Eric represents a class of call center workers employed by HealthNet or its subsidiaries.  A federal court recently granted collective action certification on behalf of the class for alleged illegal rounding of pay practices.

Plubell, et al. v. Merck & Co., Inc., -- Eric successfully drafted the winning brief securing Missouri Court of Appeals affirmation of the trial court's order certifying a class of Missouri residents who purchased over $260 million of Merck's Vioxx pain medication which was deceptively marketed in the State of Missouri.  It is the only consumer class action in the country certified and affirmed on appeal against Merck for the deceptive marketing of Vioxx.

Berry, et al. v. Volkswagen of America, Inc. -- Eric represented a state-wide class of consumers who purchased or leased a Volkswagen Jetta, Golf, GTI or Cabriolet model years 1995-1998 and certain Volkswagen Jetta, Golf or GTI model year 1999. The case settled in 2010 and Volkswagen has agreed to reimburse all expenses incurred by VW owners in the past related to repairing/replacing the defective window regulators plus $75 for each documented incident or workshop visit in which one or more window regulator failures were diagnosed, repaired or replaced.

Levy Premium Foodservice v. Ehlert Development Corp. -- Eric obtained a settlement in a case involving a breach of contract dispute between the Kansas City T-Bones and their former food service provider, Levy Restaurants. The case was pending in Kansas state court before it was successfully resolved in 2007.

Auto Accident Wrongful Death – Eric currently represents the surviving children of a woman tragically killed at a car wash. The family is suing the driver, the car wash and Toyota Motor Company.

International Trademark Dispute Resolution -- Eric successfully negotiated a trademark dispute involving international video game naming rights.