Described by Chambers as “an extremely effective presence in the courtroom,” William Beil has an active business and class action litigation practice. His emphasis lies in complex business litigation, including significant experience in the following areas:  class action, antitrust, consumer protection act, professional negligence, product liability, oil and gas litigation, recovery actions for bankruptcy trustees, trust dispute litigation, construction defect litigation, and securities litigation matters. He represents corporations and individuals, both as plaintiffs and defendants, in federal and state courts in Missouri, Kansas, and throughout the country.

Mr. Beil’s most recent litigation experience includes representing a group of grain trading companies as plaintiffs in in re Rail Freight Surcharge Antitrust Litigation (No. II), MDL No. 2925 (D.D.C.); representing plaintiffs and defendants in bank-related litigation, including bringing claims on behalf of bank business customers against banks for sending unauthorized wire transfers of the customers’ funds to international cybercriminals, bringing representative and warranty claim on behalf of banks against sellers of loan, defending a bank in a large trust dispute case, and prosecuting misrepresentation claims against a bank on  behalf of a large wholesale drug distribution company; representing construction contractor in claim against subcontractor; representing law firms in malpractice actions and fee disputes; representing individuals, companies, and bankruptcy trustees in legal malpractice actions; representing a redevelopment company suing its insurers in an insurance coverage dispute involving pollution insurance policies; representing a nuclear power plant and its owners suing for damages results from a 76-day outage caused by deficient service work performed by an outside vendor; representing multiple companies seeking to recover damages in price-fixing cases; representing a large manufacturer of laptop computers in putative class actions defending against statutory consumer fraud claims; and representing a local utility defending breach of contract and other claims related to solar panel installations.

In addition to his recognition as a top commercial litigation attorney in Chambers USA every year since 2007, Mr. Beil has also been lauded in Best Lawyers in America.

Significant Representations

Obtained complete summary judgment on behalf of defendant INTRUST Bank, N.A., in complex litigation involving Plaintiffs alleging damages in excess of $24,000,000 based on claims relating to the bank’s legal rights to assets pursuant to the Kansas Uniform Trust Code.  Wagnon, et al. v. Rasberry, et al., Case No. 18-CV-2362 (Sedgwick County, Kansas).

Obtained favorable settlements for opt out direct purchasers of polyurethane foam products in price-fixing cases against manufacturers in the polyurethane foam industry.  Cases originally filed in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, then transferred to MDL No.  2196 in the United States District Court for the N.D. of Ohio, then remanded back to the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.  Lacrosse Furniture Co. v. Future Foam, et al., Case No. 12-2748-KHV (D. Kan.); CAP Carpet, Inc. v. Future Foam, Inc., et al., Case No. 13-01140 (D. Kan.).

Obtained multiple favorable summary judgment rulings regarding construction of pollution insurance policies leading to a favorable settlement on behalf of insured against insurer in insurance coverage dispute. Sunflower Redevelopment, LLC v. Illinois Union Ins. Co.. No. 4:15-CV-00577-DGK, 2018 WL 3120641 (W.D. Mo. June 28, 2018); see also 2018 WL 1370682 and 2017 WL 1683070 (May 2, 2017).

Obtained summary judgment and denial of class certification for Garmin companies in putative class action alleging violations of state consumer act.  Meyers v. Garmin Int’l, Inc., No. 13-CV-2416-CM-GLR, 2016 WL 1261034 (D. Kan. March 30, 2016).

Represented bankruptcy trustee and earned multi-million dollar settlement in litigation arising from collapse of sucralose manufacturing company.  In re Mamtek U.S., Inc. (W.D. Bkrtcy. Mo. 2016).

Obtained favorable settlement on behalf of oil and gas joint venture against oil and gas exploration companies in litigation involving claims arising out of the acquisition and sale of oil and gas interests, including over-riding royalty interests, in the Bakken field in North Dakota.  Rocky Mountain Exploration, Inc., et al. v. Tracker Resource Exploration ND, LLC, et al., Case No. 2011CV5601 (Dist. Court, City and County of Denver, Colorado 2013).

Represented bankruptcy trustee and earned multi-million dollar settlements in litigation arising from collapse of fat-treatment company.

Trustee settles over fat-treatment company’s collapse (Mo. Lawyers Weekly, Nov. 19, 2012)

Represented financial services company in six-week arbitration hearing on breach of contract claim, resulting in a nine-figure award in favor of client. (AAA Arbitration, Kansas City, MO).

Obtained verdict in favor of plaintiff class and settlement for plaintiff class in actions to recover recording fees overcollected by title companies.  Krause v. Chicago Title Ins. Co. & Painter v. Old Republic Title Ins. Co.  (Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri 2011).

Obtained summary judgment which was affirmed on appeal in favor of client, a casino gaming company, in declaratory judgment action against real estate developer, and on developer’s counterclaim. The developer sought $37.5 million in damages from the gaming company for withdrawing from casino development project. Court also ordered developer to pay nearly $1 million in gaming company’s attorney’s fees and expenses. Kansas Penn Gaming, LLC v. HV Properties of Kansas, LLC, 727 F. Supp. 2d 1100 (D. Kan. 2010); Kansas Penn Gaming, LLC v. HV Properties of Kansas, LLC, 2011 WL 1885853 (D. Kan. May 18, 2011); Kansas Penn Gaming, LLC v. HV Properties of Kansas, LLC, 662 F.3d 1275 (10th Cir. 2011).

Obtained an eight-figure settlement from transformer manufacturer in an breach of warranty action arising out of failure of a power plant transformer. Kansas City Power & Light Co. v. Siemens AG (Circuit Court of Jackson County, MO).

Secured $452 million jury verdict for plaintiff utility on product liability claims arising out of power plant explosion. After trial, court reversed the verdict. The firm successfully appealed and the verdict was reinstated in full. Kansas City Power & Light Co. v. Rockwell Automation, Inc., 197 S.W.3d 147 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006).

Obtained $44 million arbitration award in destruction-of-business case for plaintiff debtor in bankruptcy following settlement of federal court case involving claims for breach of contract and fraud. Excel Laminates, Inc. v. Lear Corp. (D. Kan./Arbitration).

Obtained $2.5 million judgment for general contractor after three-week bench trial in federal court in Indianapolis for wrongful termination of construction contract. Fru-Con Construction Services, Inc. v. Grain Processing Corp. (S.D. Ind.).

Obtained multi-million dollar settlement for EPC/Design-Build contractor for cost overruns on large process plant expansion project. Fru-Con Construction Co. v. Bayer Corp. (Circuit Court of Jackson County, MO).

Represented engineering company in four-week jury trial alleging defective pollution control equipment. Tamko Roofing Products, Inc. v. Smith Engineering Co. (W.D. Mo.).

Summary judgment in favor of client (affirmed on appeal) in case alleging fraud and breach of contract in connection with proposed purchase. Schaller Telephone Co. v. Golden Sky Systems, Inc., 298 F.3d 736 (8th Cir. 2002).

Obtained $3 million judgment in favor of client construction contractor for cost overruns after three-week jury trial. Brooks Erection & Construction Co. v. BP Oil Co. (E.D. Penn.).

Obtained seven-figure settlement for piping contractor in arbitration claim for cost overruns on process plant construction project. Strange & Coleman, Inc. v. Monsanto Corp. (AAA Arbitration, St. Louis, MO).

After six-week jury trial, obtained jury verdict in favor of Nigerian battery manufacturer for approximately $1 million. Case was settled post-trial for double the jury verdict. Berec International Ltd., et al. v. Eveready Battery (E.D. Mo.).

Obtained summary judgment for client on ERISA claims. Herring v. Oak Park Bank, 963 F. Supp. 1558 (D. Kan. 1997).

Defended Discover Card and SPS Transaction Service in a $30 million damage claim in a business tort case involving trademark infringement, breach of contract, and fraud counts. Going into the trial, the plaintiff’s demand was $10 million. After two days of cross examination of the plaintiff’s president, the case was settled for a portion of the cost to defend the remaining two weeks of trial. This case resulted in several reported opinions at 917 F. Supp. 1488 (D. Kan.); 1996 WL 445069 (D. Kan.); 1996 WL 137824 (D. Kan.); 1996 WL 137819 (D. Kan.); 917 F. Supp. 1478 (D. Kan.); 1996 WL 47951 (D. Kan.). PulseCard v. Discover Card and SPS Transaction Service (D. Kan.).

Practice Areas

• Business Litigation
• Construction Law
• Class Action
• Professional Negligence
• Antitrust
• Insurance Coverage
• Trust Litigation

Education

University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law, J.D.
with distinction, 1986

UMKC Law Review, 1984–1986
• Order of Bench & Robe, 1986
• National Moot Court Team, 1986
• National Trial Team, 1986

University of Missouri–Columbia, B.J., 1983

Honors & Awards

Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
2013-present

The Best Lawyers in Kansas City
Ingram’s Magazine, 2012

Best Lawyers in America – Litigation (Mergers & Acquisitions) (2021)

Best Lawyers in America – Commercial Litigation (2019)

Best of the Bar – Kansas City Business Journal (2018)

Missouri and Kansas
Super Lawyers Magazine, 2008–Present

Chambers USA, 2007–Present;
Litigation: General Commercial

The Antitrust Lawyers – Missouri and Kansas

 

Memberships

American Bar Association
(Litigation Sections)

Missouri Bar Association

Kansas Bar Association

Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
(Federal Courts Advocates Section)

Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Trial Law Institute, Litigation Counsel of America

Diversity Law Institute, Litigation Counsel of America

Bar Admissions

Missouri

Kansas

United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri

United States District Court for the District of Kansas

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Organizations

Colonial Presbyterian Church
Elder and Trustee, 2009–2011

Hope City Homes –  Board Member