Andy’s goal in defending clients throughout the country is to help minimize any negative impact on their image, brand, stock price, distributors and salespeople by trying and winning cases.
AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating on Martindale-Hubbell®
Andy is a shareholder with Sandberg Phoenix. He served as the firm’s product liability department leader for eight years from 2008 to 2016 and is currently a Recruiting Committee member. Andy has more than 20 years’ experience with litigation throughout the country defending manufacturers of various products, to include drugs and medical devices, hospital products, construction equipment and machinery, aerial lifts, digger derricks, cranes and potentially toxic chemicals. Additionally, he is retained by clients in the railroad, transportation and construction industries.
Andy’s goal in representing large, publicly traded companies is to help minimize any negative impact on their image, brand, stock price, distributors and salespeople by trying and winning cases. At the same time, he recognizes from experience how litigation can impact a company financially. Andy works closely with clients at the beginning of every case to provide an up-front evaluation that informs them of their chances of success, potential and probable exposure, and anticipated costs so they know the risks involved. He also provides recommendations at the end of a case based on lessons learned during the lawsuit on steps a company can take to avoid future litigation and on developing quality assurance procedures to ensure nonconforming products can be identified and taken off the market.
Much of Andy’s litigation activity involves defending clients based in the United States, Canada, England, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea and other countries in complex, high exposure matters involving multiple injuries and deaths. These cases have included mass casualties associated with prescription medications, lead and other toxic substances, trucking accidents, amphibious vehicles and fireworks and explosives. Andy has also defended general contractors and subcontractors in catastrophic injuries related to the construction and maintenance of energized transmission lines, communications towers, highways, airports and fire suppression systems. In handling these matters, Andy has become knowledgeable regarding a variety of construction standards and building codes, government regulatory standards and standards organizations such as ANSI and ISO have promulgated. More recently, Andy has expanded his product liability expertise to defending manufacturers and distributors of alternative nicotine delivery systems.
Andy’s litigation experience has allowed him to develop particular skill in neutralizing opposing experts’ opinions and qualifications to the point he is routinely successful in excluding those experts from testifying. He is one of the few attorneys in the United States who has been able to convince a judge to prohibit a life care planner from offering opinion testimony despite the fact the life care planner was a medical doctor and he has also enjoyed success in disqualifying experts in other disciplines such as accident reconstruction, biomechanical engineering, product design and product warnings. Indeed, Andy’s partners and attorneys from other firms frequently consult with him on strategies for eliciting testimony from opposing experts during depositions that will support pretrial motions to strike those experts.
Clark's Res., Inc. v. Ireland, 142 S.W.3d 769 (Mo.App. 2004)
Keisker v. Farmer, 90 S.W.3d 71 (Mo. banc 2002)
Professional Affiliations
Missouri Bar Association
National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel
Product Liability Advisory Council
Treestand Manufacturers Association.
Additionally, Andy serves as a member of Mackrell International, one of the world’s premier networks of independent legal firms.
Education
J.D., University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
• Andy was the Articles Editor for The Urban Lawyer quarterly journal on local government law and urban legal affairs.
B.S. in Business Administration, University of Missouri - Columbia
Licensure(s) and Admission(s)
Illinois
Kansas
Missouri
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
United States District Court for the District of Kansas
Civic Activities
Andy serves on the Board of Directors for Lafayette Industries, a contract packager that provides employment opportunities to persons with development disabilities abd to persons with other disabilities who are 18 years or older. He is also actively involved with Glendale Lutheran Church where he serves as the Congregation’s President and is a member of the Friends of the St. Louis Symphony.
Presentations
"The Latest in Subrogation and Liens and Ethical Considerations for the Attorney in the Tripartite Insurance Relationship - Who is the Client?" National Business Institute
"How to Reduce Litigation Costs Using Experts," Marcus Evans Chief Litigation Officer Summit
"Managing Liens and Subrogation in Auto Accident Litigation, Liens and Subrogation in Auto Accident Litigation and Litigation Ethics," National Business Institute
"Current Case Law, Market Trends and Legal Updates," National Business Institute
"Products Liability: From Beginning to End," PLRB/LIRB Central Regional Adjusters Conference
"Managing Liens and Subrogation in Auto Accident Litigation, Subrogation Liens in Detail," National Business Institute
"Ethical Considerations for the Attorney in the Tripartite Insurance Relationship - Who is the Client?" National Business Institute
"Insurance Law from A to Z, Insurance Law Legislative Update and Ethical Considerations for the Attorney in the Tripartite Insurance Relationship - Who is the Client?" National Business Institute
Publications
"The Explosion in E-Cigarette Battery Explosion Litigation: Tips and Tactics for Manufacturers, Distributors, & Retailers," V Smoke & Vape Business Solutions (Jan/Feb 2018)
Received from attorneys who have worked with and against Andy. This rating reflects his commitment to high ethical standards and his broad knowledge and experience.
LITIGATION COUNSEL OF AMERICA
Fellow
An invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society with membership limited to less than one-half of one percent of North American lawyers, judges and scholars.
