Personal Quote
"A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect."
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Sir Walter Scott, Guy Mannering 1815
Biography
Reed W. Sugg is a shareholder of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard. Reed concentrates his work primarily in the defense of product manufacturers and the representation of clients in business litigation matters.
He has over thirty years of experience in successfully defending a wide variety of products manufacturers in thousands of serious cases. His clients have included manufacturers of commercial and private aircraft and their components, passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, heavy trucks, all-terrain vehicles, raw asbestos and asbestos-containing products, amusement park rides, chemicals, heavy industrial machinery and commercial food processing equipment.
Reed has gained a reputation in the products liability field by acting as Regional Counsel for two companies that manufactured products containing asbestos and by being one of two partners serving on the Regional Counsel team for a manufacturer of all-terrain vehicles. He has represented a local amusement park on a wide variety of issues over the last twenty years and is currently representing a seller of thimerosal in approximately forty vaccine cases. In addition to representing manufacturers in the aviation field over the last twenty-five years, he has also represented national and commuter airlines, aviation service companies and pilots in both lawsuits and FAA matters.
Reed's appellate practice has included writing over twenty appellate briefs and arguing appeals in various courts, including state and federal appellate courts in Missouri and Illinois.
Reed was named to the
Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers in the Civil Litigation area in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2007, Reed was also named in the area of Transportation/Maritime. He was named in the Products Liability area in 2008 and 2009.
A sampling Reed's litigation experience includes:
Davis v. Turner & Newall, et al. Reed represented one of the defendants in this multiple plaintiff asbestos case. The jury awarded very nominal judgments for plaintiffs, which served as a favorable basis for the resolution of numerous subsequent asbestos cases in Missouri.
Buettman v. Harris Graphics Corporation. Reed represented the manufacturer of a printing press where the plaintiff alleged that the loss of his dominant hand and serious injuries to his arm resulted from the defective design of a large printing press. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant.
Rauls v. U.S. Slicing Machine. Reed represented the manufacturer of a commercial meat tenderizer machine in a case where the plaintiff alleged that a defective design resulted in a severe injury to her dominant hand. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant.
Cotton Blossom v. Stoehner Security, et al. Reed represented a security company in this property damage case in which the plaintiff alleged that defendant’s negligence contributed to cause the sinking of the plaintiff’s vessel on the Mississippi River at the base of the Arch. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant.
AirTran (f/k/a ValuJet) v. SabreTech, et al. Reed was co-counsel for the defendants in this case in which the plaintiff sought hundreds of millions of dollars for business losses allegedly resulting from the 1996 crash of a ValuJet flight in Florida. The case was settled after three weeks of trial under terms that had been offered months before the trial began.
BL Jet Sales v. Garrett Corporation. Reed represented the defendant in this aviation business case involving allegations of fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation relating to the documentation of work performed on the aircraft. The defendant obtained a directed verdict at trial.
Carle v. Six Flags. Reed represented the defendant in this personal injury action in which plaintiff alleged injuries to his hands came as a result of riding on one of the park’s rides. The Court found for the defendant.
Dumas v. Six Flags. Reed was co-counsel for the defendant in this personal injury action in which the plaintiff alleged that the defendant’s negligence caused his accident at the park that resulted in a broken hip. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant.
Di-Cor v. Richard Thomas Wrecking Co. Reed represented the defendant in this property damage case arising out of the demolition of a neighboring building. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant.
Hoffman v. Beech. Reed second-chaired this wrongful death case arising out of the crash of a Beech Baron in Mississippi. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant.
Fred Weber, Inc. v. Amoco Oil Co. Reed second-chaired this antitrust case involving the alleged price fixing of penetration grade asphalt. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant.
Klugesherz v. Honda. Reed second-chaired this product liability case in which the plaintiff alleged catastrophic injuries due to the defective design of an all-terrain vehicle. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff, but the trial court judge granted a JNOV in favor of the defendant.
Bazzano v. Rockwell International Corp. Reed second-chaired this wrongful death case in which it was alleged that a defective flight director system caused the crash and death of the pilot, who was a doctor. The case was favorably settled before it went to the jury.
Practice Groups
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Business Litigation
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Products Liability
Industries/Areas of Practice
- General Business Litigation
- Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices
- Hazardous Substances
- Manufacturing
- Transportation
- Consumer Products
Civic Activities
School Boards; Board for Homeless Shelter; coached kids athletic teams.
Professional Activities
Reed is licensed to practice in the states of Missouri and Illinois, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri and the Southern District of Illinois, and the United States Courts of Appeal for the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Circuits.
He is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, The Lawyers Association of St. Louis, the Missouri Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association and the Aviation Insurance Association.
Reed has previously served on the firm's Management and Compensation Committees and served as the Products Liability Practice Group Leader.
Education
Reed earned his Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University in 1978 where he was elected into the Order of the Coif and was a Patrick Wilson Scholar.
He earned his B.A.,
summa cum laude, at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina in 1975, where he was elected into Phi Beta Kappa.