James F. Bennett

Representative Recent Matters

• In 2023, Mr. Bennett tried two jury trials to conclusion and a multi-week arbitration. He also argued multiple cases in the courts of appeal. After multiple weeks of trial in a mass tort case alleging that a product caused the plaintiff’s cancer, his client received a directed verdict at the close of the plaintiff’s case. This result was identified by the Courtroom View Network (CVN) as the second-rated top most impressive defense verdict of 2023. He also successfully defended a “Big Four” audit firm in arbitration against a public company who accused the firm of improper activity. He successfully argued an en banc appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In other matters, successful results were obtained prior to trial at the dismissal or summary judgment phase of the case, including in multiple courts around the country.
• In 2022, Mr. Bennett obtained the dismissal of a nationwide False Claims Act case filed in the District of Massachusetts that alleged overpayment of medical directors at over 2,000 facilities treating over 150,000 patients, and successfully argued in the Second Circuit, which affirmed the dismissal of a False Claims Act filed in the Eastern District of New York.  In July 2022, Mr. Bennett argued in the Delaware Supreme Court for Emerson Electric related to a long-term supply agreement with Lennox Industries related to a key component in residential air conditioning units.  Shortly after the argument, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed judgment in favor of Emerson regarding the proper interpretation of the agreement.  Mr. Bennett also obtained summary judgment for Edward Jones in an employment dispute in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.  He also prevailed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in a ground-breaking challenge to insurer’s premiums charged during COVID-19 shut downs. And he prevailed in two Daubert hearings striking experts in a long-running multi-district litigation over alleged nation-wide deceptive advertising of a major consumer product.
• In 2021, Mr. Bennett obtained a jury verdict for Emerson Electric in a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, won motions to dismiss two major False Claims Act cases on behalf of Fresenius Medical Care (in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii), obtained summary judgment for Emerson Electric in a commercial dispute in the Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington, and had a favorable international arbitration award on behalf of a fuel producer reduced to judgment in Harris County, Texas District Court.  Mr. Bennett also represented Anheuser-Busch in obtaining the dismissal with prejudice of two consumer class actions in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and Central District of California. He represented Emerson in a successful appeal in a medical monitoring class action in the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Southern District. He was also lead trial counsel for the City of St. Louis in its case against the NFL that resulted in a $790 million settlement.
• In 2020, Jim successfully argued a case at the Missouri Supreme Court regarding the right of a party to change of judge after a voluntary dismissal, and also was lead counsel in a successful evidentiary hearing in the District of Colorado for a national bank on a motion for preliminary injunction. He also prevailed in the Eighth Circuit in overturning the refusal to compel arbitration of consumer claims related to the gift cards of a national retailer.
• In 2019, among other matters, Mr. Bennett concluded the re-trial of a case involving a national bank accused of breach of trust.  The re-trial resulted in a $183 million reduction from the prior verdict.  He also obtained the reversal by the Eighth Circuit of a nationwide class certification decision involving over $400 million for a Fortune 500 public company.  He tried in Houston a confidential international arbitration related to an oil refinery in the United Kingdom.  Finally, he won a case in the Missouri Supreme Court for Anheuser-Busch that established that the Missouri employment laws did not apply to workers outside of the state.
• In 2018, Mr. Bennett was lead trial counsel in four cases.  The first was a four-day hearing successfully representing an attorney before the Missouri Supreme Court’s hearing officers for lawyer discipline.  The second was a multi-week trial of a toxic tort lawsuit that was a retrial of a case that previously resulted in a $30 million verdict.  After a mistrial declared on the second day of deliberations, the matter was resolved.  Mr. Bennett was retained after the first verdict.  The third matter consisted of four days of jury selection in the defense of the governor of the state of Missouri.  The case was dismissed by the prosecution during jury selection.  The final matter was a multi-week trial against a national bank where a prior trial resulted in a $355 million verdict.  Mr. Bennett was retained after the first trial.

Other notable matters include:

• After a bench trial, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri ruled for Anheuser-Busch in a long-running insurance coverage dispute, holding that Anheuser-Busch could tender long-tail asbestos claims under a single policy year and thereby avoid being responsible for equitable allocations of damages for other years.
• Obtained a unanimous jury verdict in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts for medical device manufacturer.  The case was tried over four weeks and involved a medical device that has been the subject of thousands of cases filed in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
• Conducted a two week jury trial that achieved the largest plaintiff’s verdict in the history of St. Louis County Circuit Court. The jury assessed Wells Fargo as 98% responsible for damages and awarded the Barbara Burton Morriss Trust $45,766,033.81 in actual damages and $32,100,000.00 in punitive damages.
• Represented a fuel producer in a two week jury trial in Galveston County, Texas. A unanimous verdict was returned for Dowd Bennett’s client on claims of a harmful exposure to benzene and other toxins related to the overfill of a crude-oil spill at a refinery site.
• Tried to jury verdict the highly publicized Katz v. Anheuser Busch, Inc. A former high-ranking female executive brought the case against Anheuser Busch Inc. claiming gender discrimination, seeking more than $15 million in lost wages and interest, plus punitive damages.   The case was televised and the verdict was reported in The New York Times and The Washington Post.
• Represented Emerson Electric and its subsidiaries in a two-week jury trial, trade secret and contract dispute against a re-manufacturer of Fisher Control valves and actuators.  In Automation Service v. Emerson Process Management and Fisher Controls, the jury ruled for Emerson on all counts and then awarded $5.4 million in damages on the counterclaim. The jury ruled for Emerson on all counts and awarded $5.4 million in damages on the counterclaim.
• Conducted a multi-week jury trial in the District of Massachusetts (Boston), Fresenius Medical Care v. United States of America, against the Department of Justice where the twelve-person jury awarded Fresenius Medical Care a $95 million tax benefit. The judgment was affirmed by the first circuit.
• Tried to judgment an arbitration involving a claim that his client committed professional malpractice and caused the bankruptcy of a publicly-traded accounting firm. After lengthy testimony and argument, the three-arbitrator panel unanimously ruled for Mr. Bennett’s client. The award was confirmed by the Denver, Colorado Circuit Court.
• Represented a fuel producing subsidiary in Cook County, Illinois. The jury determined that a trucking company was responsible for the damage to Dowd Bennett’s client’s underground Chicago-area pipeline.
• Tried an arbitration to judgment in favor of an online catalog company against a company that had acquired it. The case was tried in Chicago under the terms of the public sale agreement.
• Represented Monsanto Company in a jury trial against Conoco Phillips where a unanimous jury awarded Mr. Bennett’s client $7.6 million. The case revolved around a multi-year supply contract for petroleum coke used by Monsanto to manufacture Round-Up®.
• Represented Walmart Inc. against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a jury trial that alleged age discrimination.  A unanimous jury rejected the EEOC’s claim after only 30 minutes of deliberation.
• Represented the defendant in a False Claims Act case tried in El Paso, Texas in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. This case was tried over 45 days and is reported to have been the longest civil trial in the El Paso division.  The jury ruled for Mr. Bennett’s client.
• Tried a $280 million multi-week case in Delaware Chancery Court, affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court.  The case, Olson v. Viking Global Investors, was a dispute between the founders of a hedge fund managing more than $10 billion in assets.
• After more than four months of trial, a St. Louis County jury ruled in favor of Mr. Bennett’s client, Cross County Collaborative on all nine counts.  The $130 million case involved responsibility for cost overruns for St. Louis’ light-rail system.  In the longest jury trial in St. Louis County history, Bi-State v. Cross County Collaborative, the jury returned a full defense verdict.
• Represented a Swiss public company in a case involving a supply contract for carbon fiber used in large European-manufactured wind turbine blades.  The jury awarded Mr. Bennett’s client more than $36 million which was the exact amount requested by Mr. Bennett in closing arguments.

Representative Recent Appeals

• The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial and reversed the grant of a preliminary injunction directed to advertising by Dowd Bennett client Anheuser-Busch on the issue of corn syrup.  The district court had denied an injunction of Anheuser-Busch’s Super Bowl LIII advertising, but preliminarily enjoined certain packaging materials under the Lanham Act.
• The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a judgment against PNC Bank.  The Court held that the trial court erred in defining the case as governed by common law tort theories and reversed for application of different law.
• The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in United States of America ex rel., Chester Saldivar v. Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc., held that the FCA’s public disclosure bar applied to defeat a false claims act case based on Medicare billing for a pharmaceutical.
• The First Circuit affirmed the $95 million judgment in Fresenius v. United States, a case seeking a tax deduction for a false claims act settlement.  The decision came just three weeks after Mr. Bennett argued the case to a panel of judges in Boston.
• Argued in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit a case involving the jurisdiction of the federal courts to decide disputes related to international arbitration.  The Court of Appeals ruled that more than 400 cases, involving claims of Peruvian children related to lead products in Peru, were properly removed to federal court.  Jurisdiction was based on an arbitration pending between the operator and the Peruvian government.
• Argued in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit an appeal of an $82 million False Claims Act Judgment against Renal Care Group, Inc.  The Panel unanimously reversed the judgment and directed that judgment on two counts be entered for Mr. Bennett’s client, Renal Care Group.  The decision has been widely reported.
• The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a major ERISA ruling in a case argued by Mr. Bennett, Bio-Medical Systems v. Central States.  The unanimous ruling in favor of Mr. Bennett’s client prohibited large, private insurance plans from dropping certain beneficiaries based on Medicare-eligibility.  The decision had a wide-ranging impact for providers.