Virginia I. Stevens Crimmins Kansas City, Missouri
| Partner | |
| phone | 816-714-7104 (Direct) 816-298-9847 (Main) |
| fax | 816-714-7101 |
Ginnie received a B.A. in 1998 from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia in International Relations and French where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Ginnie subsequently attended Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. During law school Ginnie was a member of Georgetown's Journal on Poverty Law and Policy and represented clients in Georgetown's Domestic Violence Clinic.
After graduation from law school in 2001, Ginnie and her husband returned to Kansas City where Ginnie began practicing with the law firm of Spencer Fane Britt and Browne in Spencer Fane's general litigation group. While at Spencer Fane, Ginnie's practice focused on education and business litigation, involving business torts, contract disputes, and insurance issues. In 2004, Ginnie joined the law firm of Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP and in July 2008, Ginnie was elected to the Firm's partnership.
Since beginning the practice of law, Ginnie has represented both individual and corporate clients in many different forums across the country and has experience prosecuting and defending cases at both the trial court and appellate court levels. She has defended and prosecuted claims in the areas of Antitrust, Contact Disputes, Business Torts, Wage and Hour Violations, and Class Actions.
RECENT RESULTS
* American Family Mutual Insurance Company v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., et al., (business litigation): Ginnie successfully defended Countrywide at trial in Missouri State Court against claims that included a fraud claim seeking punitive damages. Judgment was rendered in favor of Countrywide on all claims.
* Truck Insurance Exchange v. Prairie Framing, et. al., (bad faith insurance disputes): In Truck Insurance Exchange, Ginnie represented Prairie Framing on appeal and defended the trial court's summary judgment ruling that found Prairie Framing's insurance company breached its duty to defend and indemnify Prairie Framing in an underlying wrongful death action and found that the insurance company was liable for acting in bad faith when refusing to settle the claims against Prairie Framing. The Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District of Missouri, affirmed in part and denied in part, the trial court's decision. The Court of Appeals affirmed the summary judgment ruling finding that the insurance company breached its duties to defend and indemnify but remanded the case for a factual determination on the claim of bad faith refusal to settle. The parties ultimately settled the case.
* Loan Originator and Loan Processor Misclassification Cases: (FLSA wage and hour case) Ginnie, along with George Hanson, has represented hundreds of loan originators and loan processors against their employers to recover unpaid minimum and overtime wages. Examples of these cases, include Archer v. National Bank of Kansas City, Carson v. Bank of Blue Valley, Davis v. Novastar, Gieseke v. First Horizon Home Loan Corporation, Perry v. National City, and West v. First Franklin.
In Davis v. NovaStar, the Court certified a Fair Labor Standards Act collective action against NovaStar Mortgage Company. The case was filed in the Western District of Missouri and included class members throughout the United States. See 408 F.Supp.2d 811 (W.D. Mo. 2006). Ultimately, a court-approved settlement was reached in 2006.
In Gieseke v. First Horizon Home Loan Corporation, loan originator plaintiffs filed an FLSA collective action case against First Horizon alleging that First Horizon failed to pay them minimum and overtime wages. The United States District Court for the District of Kansas conditionally certified the case as a collective action; class members extended throughout the United States. See 408 F.Supp.2d 1164 (D.Kan. 2006). A court-approved settlement was reached in 2008.
In Perry v. National City, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois conditionally certified an FLSA collective action case on behalf of approximately 4,500 loan originators employed by National City. See 2007 WL 1810472 (S.D. Il. 2007). A court-approved settlement was reached in 2008. After significant discovery and extensive summary judgment briefing, the parties reached a Court-approved class settlement in the amount of $27.5 million.
* Heartland Spine & Specialty Hospital v. HCA Midwest Division, et. al., (antitrust litigation): Ginnie played a key role in discovery on this case, including extensively reviewing and analyzing thousands of pages of document discovery, taking the depositions of several of Defendants' witnesses and defending Heartland's employees at depositions during the discovery phase of the case. After hard-fought litigation, this case ultimately settled in 2008.
- Areas of Practice:
- Litigation & Dispute Resolution
- Bar Admissions:
- Missouri, 2001
- Kansas, 2002
- Illinois, 2002
- U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri
- U.S. District Court District of Kansas
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois
- Education:
- Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia,
2001
Honors: Georgetown's Domestic Violence Clinic
Law Review: Georgetown's Journal on Poverty Law and Policy, Member - Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia,
1998
B.A.
Honors: Member, Phi Beta Kappa
Major: International Relations
Major: French
- Representative Cases:
- American Family Mutual Insurance Company v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., et al.
- Archer v. National Bank of Kansas City
- Carson v. Bank of Blue Valley
- Davis v. Novastar
- Gieseke v. First Horizon Home Loan Corporation
- Perry v. National City
- West v. First Franklin
- Davis v. NovaStar
- Gieseke v. First Horizon Home Loan Corporation
- Perry v. National City (United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois)
- Heartland Spine & Specialty Hospital v. HCA Midwest Division, et. al.
- Professional Associations and Memberships:
- American Bar Association
- Member
- Lawyers Association of Kansas City
- Member
- KCMBA
- Member
- Kansas Bar Association
- Member
- Kansas Bar Association, Employment Law Section, 2010 - Present
- Past President, Committee Member
- Kansas Bar Association, Employment Law Section, 2009 - 2010
- President
- Kansas Bar Association, Employment Law Section, 2008 - 2009
- Editor
- Illinois Bar Association
- Member
- Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City
- Member
- Past Employment Positions:
- Spencer Fane Britt and Browne, General Litigation Group, 2001 - 2004
- Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, Associate, 2004 - 2008
Why Stueve Siegel Hanson?
Stueve Siegel Hanson is a national litigation firm specializing in complex business litigation and multi-party actions, and dangerous products and personal injury cases. We have obtained substantial results for our clients in all types of litigation across the country, and have collectively been honored with dozens of awards and designations, for both our trial successes, and case results.
