Jack has been involved in several of the largest class actions in the State of Missouri. He represents individuals and corporate plaintiffs in a variety of legal areas, including products liability, wage and hour violations, commercial litigation and personal injury.  He works on the firm's largest cases, including many coordinated multi-district proceedings. 

Jack received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Kansas. At law school, he was elected to the Order of the Coif. He also won an award for outstanding legal writing.

Before joining Stueve Siegel Hanson in 2008, Jack worked at Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy P.C. (now Polsinelli Shughart) in Kansas City in the firm's business litigation and contingency fee departments. At Shughart, he found his calling representing plaintiffs and was involved in several class actions resulting in large nationwide settlements.

REPRESENTATIVE CURRENT CASES

Berry, et al. v. Volkswagen of America, Inc. Jack, along with other Stueve Siegel Hanson attorneys, has brought a Missouri statewide class action on behalf 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 plaintiffs allege that Volkswagen sold consumers Volkswagen vehicles with defective window regulators and/or plastic window clamps requiring consumers to pay several hundreds of dollars to continually replace the window regulators.  Volkswagen has agreed to reimburse all expenses incurred by 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.  The court recently granted preliminary approval of the settlement.

Plubell et al. v. Merck & Co., Inc. Jack, along with other Stueve Siegel Hanson attorneys, has brought a Missouri statewide class action on behalf of all Missouri purchasers of Vioxx, the Cox-2 pain reliever that Merck pulled off the market.  In the case, the plaintiffs allege that Merck engaged in unlawful practices, "including deception, false promises, misrepresentation, and/or the concealment, suppression, or omission of material facts," by failing to disclose and actively concealing and misrepresenting Vioxx's risks and benefits. They further allege that they and other class members "suffered economic damages in that the product they and other class members purchased was worth less than the product they thought they had purchased had Merck's representations been true." The court certified a class consisting of all Missouri residents who purchased Vioxx for personal or family use, but excluding those who claimed personal injury as a result of taking Vioxx.  The Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District affirmed the order, and the Supreme Court of Missouri denied Merck's application to transfer.  The certified class action is set to go to trial in 2011.

Sanchez v. Echosphere LLC and Dish Network LLC. Jack, along with other Stueve Siegel Hanson attorneys, has brought a nationwide collective action on behalf of all telephone-dedicated call center employees of Echosphere and Dish Network. The lawsuit alleges that Echosphere and Dish Network have consistently violated federal wage and hour laws by failing to pay them all earned wages and overtime and failing to accurately record all time worked pre-shift and post-shift.  The certified collective action is set to go to arbitration in 2011.

RECENT RESULTS

Hale v. Wal-Mart. Jack was part of the team that obtained a certified settlement class in Missouri and Kansas against Wal-Mart arising out of wage and hour disputes on behalf of current and former hourly employees.  The settlement exceeded $100 million.

Gutzler v. General Motors. Jack, along with other Stueve Siegel Hanson attorneys, brought a class action on behalf of consumers who purchased or leased certain GM vehicles that were factory filled with Dexcool, GM's Organic Acid Technology Long Life Engine Coolant.  Plaintiffs alleged that the vehicles, as well as the engine coolant, were defective causing sludging of the cooling systems in certain vehicles and causing lower intake manifold gasket failures in certain vehicles.  A nationwide settlement was reached with General Motors in the case.

Marshall v. R.J. Reynolds. Jack, along with other Stueve Siegel Hanson attorneys, brought a collective action against R.J. Reynolds on behalf of a class of retail representatives currently and formerly employed by R.J. Reynolds nationwide.  This nationwide FLSA class consisting of approximately 1,500 eligible class members was settled in the plaintiffs favor.

Community Involvement

KCMBA Leadership Academy

Mentor, University of Kansas Mentor Program for First-Year Law Students