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Railroad

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Railroad Litigation

At any one time, we handle more than 200 pending FELA and crossing cases. We have obtained favorable verdicts in federal and state courts for virtually every major railroad. No firm in recent years has achieved as many favorable verdicts in the difficult venues of the City of St. Louis and Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois as we have. In the past several years, we obtained 22 defense verdicts and 13 verdicts of below $150,000 in substantial cases. We have also received acceptable verdicts in some of the more catastrophic railroad injury cases tried in the City of St. Louis. We have defended hearing loss, toxic tort and other occupational claims on a regional basis and national basis for several railroads.
Partners
Alvey Jr., Thomas W.
Brown, Paul M.
Cornfeld, Richard S.
Dick, David A.
Godiner, Clifford A.
Goodloe, Allan
Hakes, William D.
Harla, Harlan A.
Jones, Thomas E.
Lamb, Nicholas J.
O'Keefe, Michael D.
Reitz, Kurt E.
Shaw, Booker T.
Stratmann, David A.
VanDorn, Erick E.
Associates
Bridges, Kristine Helen
Bruning, Lauren M.
Campbell, Crystal M.
Hitzemann, Christopher E.
Hooks, Heath H.
McGinley, Kevin C.
Rochat, Ross E.
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe
  • CSX Transportation
  • Illinois Central Railroad Company
  • Kansas City Southern
  • Norfolk Southern
  • Rail America, Inc.
  • Union Pacific

Litigation
Brubaker v. Union Pacific Railroad Company — Plaintiff alleged that he was injured during the course of his employment as a locomotive engineer. The Court affirmed a very low verdict for the plaintiff and issued a lengthy opinion that rejected numerous challenges of the lower court's rulings, including dismissal of one count. The opinion rejected plaintiff's attacks on the evidence of plaintiff's failure to mitigate his damages – an important issue for all railroads in Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) litigation.
Petersen vs. Union Pacific Railroad Company — Thompson Coburn represented Union Pacific on 5 separate claims involving significant personal injuries and two fatalities. Plaintiffs claimed that the flashing signals were not operating at the time of the accident. The case was tried in federal court in Springfield, Illinois for 3-1/2 weeks with the plaintiffs requesting $43 million in damages in their closing arguments. The jury deliberated for 1 hour and 20 minutes before returning defense verdicts on all the claims.
Bradshaw vs. Union Pacific Railroad Company — Thompson Coburn represented Union Pacific in a cumulative trauma double knee joint replacement in St. Clair County, Illinois. The plaintiff was a conductor who claimed walking on ballast along the tracks, getting on and off moving equipment and climbing ladders on railcars to set and release handbrakes throughout his career caused him to develop degenerative conditions in his knees. The week-and-a-half-long trial resulted in the jury returning defense verdicts on all counts of plaintiff’s Complaint.
Smith v. Illinois Central R.R. Co. — This case was originally filed as a class action in St. Clair County, Illinois arising from the derailment of a train with rail cars containing chemicals such as hydrochloric acid, vinyl chloride and methanol. The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Fifth District’s class certification ruling and remanded the case.