Litigation
Members of SLS’s litigation department handle complex civil litigation matters, in areas including construction disputes, insurance defense, insurance coverage, professional liability, environmental matters and product liability. SLS’s litigation practice has focused substantially on personal injury litigation, insurance litigation and medical malpractice. J. Michael Shaffer received the prestigious Lon O. Hocker Award from the Missouri Board of Governors acknowledging his outstanding proficiency in the art of trial advocacy. Richard F. Lombardo is a fellow of the American College of Trial Attorneys, an organization by which membership is extended only by invitation to experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standard of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality.
Members of SLS’s litigation team bring experience from all facets of trial practice. We have lawyers licensed to practice in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, California, Texas, Ohio and Iowa and we routinely serve as counsel in lawsuits in several other states. They are authorized to practice in the State courts of Missouri and Kansas and have appeared before the Eighth Circuit, Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal, the Missouri Courts of Appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court, the United States Claims Court, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the United States District Court for the state of Kansas and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Our clients include a diverse range of industries, including insurance companies, purchasing groups, real estate development companies, governmental entities, health care providers, advertising agencies, trucking firms, retail, commercial and agricultural businesses and construction companies.
SLS litigators support other practice groups in commercial and business litigation, and often handle complex business disputes to resolve issues for our business clients. Their experience includes commercial litigation representing both plaintiffs and defendants, in matters such as construction contracts, product liability cases and a wide range of business disputes. We have represented 
construction contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and owners in their litigation as well as general business needs. SLS trial attorneys have been involved in cases relating to property loss, such as refrigerated warehouses and fire loss, commercial and residential fire losses. SLS attorneys have served as litigators for a large trucking firm on a nationwide basis, handling accident litigation involving personal injury or death. They have expertise in representing debtors and creditors in connection with loan transactions, and in implementing the liquidation and winding up of various business entities. SLS attorneys have a substantial practice in the area of insurance litigation, involving coverage disputes. We actively represent state guaranty fund associations on insolvency claims problems.
SLS has a focus on health care law and has a large medical malpractice defense practice. Our attorneys have handled over four hundred fifty (450) medical negligence cases on behalf of physicians and health care providers in Missouri since 1987. Our professional negligence defense also includes representation of architects, engineers, and attorneys on malpractice claims as well as other professional liability insurers.
SLS’s plaintiffs representation includes bodily injury and wrongful death cases, and representing plaintiffs in product liability lawsuits for injuries due to defective equipment. SLS has also represented plaintiffs in worker's compensation cases, EEOC cases and FELA cases. SLS attorneys utilize the latest tools of litigation support. SLS’s litigation practice group is assisted by eight (8) paralegals. The firm has developed a computerized litigation support system for management of litigation matters, including document control, monitoring cases, docketing and conflict control.