CONTACT      

  • ABOUT US
  • ATTORNEYS
  • PRACTICES
Blitz, Bardgett, & Deutsch
  • INSIGHTS
  • NEWS
  • CONTACT

twistadmin

Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch Strengthens Growing Litigation Group with Addition of Veteran Trial Attorney Heidi Eckert

Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch (BB&D), a premier law firm known for its commitment to excellence, integrity, and client-focused legal solutions, proudly welcomes Heidi Eckert as a member of the firm. Heidi is an experienced litigator who represents clients in all aspects of employment, labor and civil rights disputes. “We are thrilled to welcome Heidi Eckert […]

Read More
eckert

Heidi L. Eckert

Heidi Eckert represents clients in all aspects of employment, labor, and civil rights disputes. Heidi is an active litigator who has defended claims in state and federal courts as well as before governmental agencies. She has also arbitrated and mediated numerous matters to successful resolution on behalf of her clients. Her litigation experience includes assisting […]

Read More

Bridget Nave Named a Top Estate Planning Advisor by St. Louis Small Business Monthly

BB&D attorney Bridget Nave has been selected by St. Louis Small Business Monthly magazine as a 2024 “Top Estate Planning Advisor.”  Readers selected Bridget as one of only 9 providers to make this esteemed list.

Read More

Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch Grows St. Louis team, Expands to Kansas City

Firm grows by more than 25% with addition of five new attorneys, strengthening firm’s statewide litigation practice. (St. Louis, MO) – Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch (BB&D), a premier law firm known for its commitment to excellence, integrity, and client-focused legal solutions, proudly welcomes four experienced trial attorneys as members, and one attorney as associate. With […]

Read More
Ferrick_Jim-wide

James H. Ferrick

Jim Ferrick is a seasoned litigator who represents clients in high stakes litigation throughout the country. He works to understand your business and how your goals drive strategy. Mr. Ferrick is experienced in handling all phases of litigation, from the temporary restraining order/injunction phase through trial and appeal. He has tried numerous cases to verdict, including in both bench and jury trials. He has argued before the Missouri and Illinois Appellate Courts and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Ferrick has brought and/or defended claims of virtually every type in the commercial and employment law contexts, including having handled claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, unfair competition (including in relation to trade secrets and restrictive covenants), commercial torts, violation of wage payment obligations, discrimination and retaliation, defamation, and many others. He also has substantial experience in products liability litigation.

Mr. Ferrick is at the forefront of counseling and litigation involving restrictive covenants and trade secrets in both the employment and sale-of-business contexts. He has represented clients across multiple industries and in various forums, including state and federal courts throughout the country as well as in arbitrations before FINRA and the AAA. He has particular expertise in disputes and counseling related to financial advisor transitions. In his day-to-day role counseling clients on risk management and other issues, Mr. Ferrick frequently drafts non-solicitation, non-compete and non-disclosure agreements.

Mr. Ferrick’s securities litigation experience involves defending brokerage firms in class actions and arbitrations alleging state and federal securities law violations, unsuitability and fraud in courts and tribunals throughout the country. In addition, he has represented broker-dealers, registered representatives, and investment advisors in matters involving non-solicitation agreements, trade secrets, and breach of loyalty or fiduciary duty throughout the country. Jim regularly appears on clients’ behalf in the FINRA arbitration forum as well as state and federal court. Mr. Ferrick also provides pre-employment counseling to effectively avoid litigation.

Mr. Ferrick has litigated trust and estate disputes on behalf of both beneficiaries and fiduciaries. He has handed a variety of different cases including disputes over trust distributions, will contests, fiduciary duty claims, and cases involving a promise to make a gift and the Deadman’s Act.

Mr. Ferrick has handled class actions throughout the country involving wireless telephone service, the securities industry, consumer products, insurance coverage and tax issues. He has handled all stages of class action defense, including class certification, dispositive motions, expert discovery, and settlement administration.

Read More
Chambers_Julie-wide

Julie M. Chambers

Julie Chambers is an associate attorney in the St Louis office and represents clients in civil litigation.

Julie joined the law firm after serving as Lead Counsel for ReubenLaw LLC, providing legal counsel related to regulatory matters, employment contracts, family law litigation, and landlord-tenant disputes while supervising legal staff and managing a volume of 350+ traffic and criminal cases for clients in Missouri and Illinois.

Julie previously served as a judicial law clerk for The Honorable Mary Barzee Flores in Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court.

Julie attended the University of Missouri School of Law where she served as the Note and Comment Editor for the Journal of Dispute Resolution and the President of the Women’s Law Association.

Read More
Blackwell_Andrew

Andrew W. Blackwell

Andrew is an experienced trial attorney who focuses his practice on complex commercial and employment disputes, as well as emerging issues related to digital assets. He has successfully tried cases to resolution in federal and state court, in arbitration, and before administrative bodies.

Prior to joining the firm, Andrew founded the first practice group dedicated exclusively to digital assets and blockchain technology in the Midwest and has represented businesses, developers, and investors across the country in matters related to digital assets and decentralized protocols.

Andrew is an Adjunct Professor at the Washington University School of Law where he teaches Trial Practice and Procedure.

Andrew is an active member and Past President of the St. Louis Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and The Theodore McMillian American Inn of Court.

Representative Matters

As lead counsel, Andrew successfully obtained a jury verdict in a business dispute where the opposing party was found to have fraudulently induced Andrew’s client into a business deal and later tried to retain the profits from the venture. The jury returned verdicts in favor of Andrew’s client on all counts – both on the claims submitted by the client, as well as defendant’s counterclaims. As part of the judgment, the court awarded the client its attorney’s fees.

As lead counsel for the founder of a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, Andrew obtained the dismissal of a putative class action complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York alleging the founder and co-defendants were members of a general partnership operating an illegal lottery in violation of New York state law. The lawsuit and dismissal were covered in the Wall Street Journal.

Andrew successfully obtained a jury verdict on competing claims for declaratory judgment between former business partners where the client was alleged to have improperly revoked the membership interest of the former partner and breached their fiduciary duties. Andrew drafted the special interrogatories that were submitted to the jury. The jury’s answers to the special interrogatories resulted in the court entering judgment in favor of the client, which included its attorney’s fees.

As lead counsel, Andrew successfully arbitrated a claim between two law firms where a dispute had arisen related to their business relationship. Andrew argued the case before a three-member arbitration panel. The case ultimately settled on confidential terms.

Andrew successfully obtained summary judgment for a local college where plaintiffs alleged that the college failed to protect them against stalking and sexual harassment by a fellow student under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The case was appealed and summary judgment in favor of the client was affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Pearson v. Logan Univ., 937 F.3d 1119 (8th Cir. 2019).

In a case of first impression, Andrew obtained the reversal of an adverse summary judgment ruling for a client that asserted it was a third-party beneficiary to a contract and entitled to payment for its services. The Court of Appeals found that the client materially changed its position in justifiable reliance on the contract entitling it to payment for its services and reserved the trial court’s summary judgment ruling. Hilliker Corp. v. Watson Prop., LLC, 667 S.W.3d 117 (Mo. Ct. App. 2022).

Andrew successfully defended the State of Missouri when a political action committee and one of its founders brought action against the Missouri Ethics Commission and several of its members, seeking to enjoin a state enforcement proceeding. The federal district court abstained from hearing the case and the decision was affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Geier v. Missouri Ethics Comm’n, 715 F.3d 674 (8th Cir. 2013).

Andrew obtained summary judgment where the client was alleged to have subjected the plaintiff, a laborer, to a hostile work environment and racial discrimination under Title VII when he was removed from a construction project. The client moved for summary judgment on the grounds that plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case for disparate treatment and because there was a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for his removal. Furthermore, the client was not plaintiff’s employer as it did not control the terms and conditions of plaintiff’s employment. The district court agreed and granted summary judgment in favor of the client.

Andrew favorably resolved alleged False Claims Act (FCA) violations against a testing laboratory. After meeting with the United States Attorney’s Office and Missouri Medicaid Audit & Compliance, the client’s license was restated and the FCA violations were resolved pre-suit.

Read More
Farrell_Kelley

Kelley F. Farrell

Kelley Farrell is a member in the St. Louis office, concentrating her practice in real estate, employment, trust and estates and commercial litigation.

Kelley’s extensive real estate practice includes representing condemning authorities, developers, and property owners in eminent domain cases involving total and partial takings of commercial, residential, and industrial properties, landlord-tenant actions, and neighboring property disputes.

Her employment practice focuses on the defense of employment disputes in federal courts, state courts and administrative agencies. She also advises many retail, manufacturing, bank and service-oriented clients on a wide variety of issues, including hiring, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination laws, wage and hour laws, employee leave rights and workers’ compensation, among others. Her most recent jury trial victory was representing a large insurance company accused of race discrimination and retaliation in Jackson County in August 2023. After six days of trial, the jury rendered unanimous defense verdicts in favor of Kelley’s client.

Kelley has also litigated a wide variety of matters in the trust and estate area, including trust and will contests, claims for tortious interference with inheritance or expectancies, trust and will constructions, trust reformations and actions against Trustees for breach of fiduciary duties. In 2015, Kelley was a key member of the BBD trial team that secured a defense judgment in a multi-million dollar trust case in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. That win was identified by Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly as one of the top five defense verdicts of that year.

Kelley’s commercial litigation experience includes serving as trial counsel in lawsuits for Fortune 500 companies and other corporations, privately held companies and individuals. Kelley prosecutes and defends a variety of commercial, business torts, contract and insurance-related litigation.

Kelley received her Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from the University of Missouri in 1991. She earned her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis in 1994, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif. Kelley currently serves as Adjunct Professor for Trial Practice for Washington University School of Law (2011-present). She is also a Master Member in the Theodore McMillian Inn of Court, the St. Louis Chapter of the American Inns of Court.

Read More
bonuchi-wide

Anthony Bonuchi

Anthony “Tony” Bonuchi’s litigation practice focuses on business disputes and appellate matters. He also leads the firm’s Kansas City office, where business and community leaders, fellow lawyers, and individual clients turn to Tony’s broad experience and talent for understanding the big picture when faced with complex and thorny problems.

Tony is recognized as one of the Kansas City region’s leading appellate lawyers. He has briefed and argued a wide range of appeals at the state and federal levels. Both before and during trial, other lawyers often call on Tony for strategy advice or counsel about the law, procedures, and motion practice critical to their cases. And he is regularly retained to provide these services and more as embedded appellate counsel at trial in high stakes litigation.

In addition to his thriving appellate practice, Tony handles all aspects of litigation for his clients – from investigation through trial. His clients range from startups, entrepreneurs, and individuals to some of the country’s most successful companies. Over the years, Tony’s cases have covered a broad scope of subjects, including commercial and business disputes; corporate governance; business ownership disputes; officer, director, fiduciary, and professional liability; construction; antitrust; intellectual property; administrative and constitutional law, consumer protection, mass torts, class actions, personal injury, and employment.

Tony’s diverse practice mirrors his background and career arc. Born and raised in a small town in North Central Missouri, he was the first in his family to earn a college degree. He went on to graduate near the top of his law school class at the University of Missouri, after which he clerked for the Honorable Phillip Garrison on Missouri’s Court of Appeals for the Southern District.

Tony began private practice at a regional, Kansas City-based firm, which soon grew to one of the nation’s largest. He spent eight years as an associate and partner in the firm’s the appellate and litigation practice groups. Tony then founded and ran his own firm, growing a successful appellate and business litigation practice.
Tony and his wife Becca live in Kansas City, Missouri and have two daughters, Avi and Frankie.

Read More

Bob Blitz Named as Chair of newly created Mizzou Intercollegiate Athletics Special Committee

In 2023, BB&D founding member Robert D. Blitz was appointed by Governor Michael Parson to serve on the University of Missouri Board of Curators.  The Board of Curators the governing body for the University System and its four campuses University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Missouri University of Science and Technology and University of […]

Read More
←Prev Page
123…19
Next Page→
Blitz, Bardgett, & Deutsch
  • ABOUT US
  • ATTORNEYS
  • PRACTICES
  • INSIGHTS
  • NEWS
  • CONTACT
Copyright ©2017 Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch, L.C. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
The choice of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different and must be judged on its own merits.