Jim is co-chair of the firm's Class Actions and Complex Litigation practice group. He has defended major U.S. and international companies in scores of purported class action lawsuits filed nationwide, and has successfully argued against class certification on behalf of both individual clients and industries. These cases have included a wide variety of subjects, including consumer fraud, product-related, and RICO claims. Recently, many of these purported class actions and mass tort matters have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation.

Jim recently successfully opposed class certification both in a putative statewide class action brought by California counties alleging overcharges by manufacturer-suppliers, and in a proposed nationwide class action involving alleged improper product marketing and promotion in the context of multidistrict litigation. He briefed and argued against class certification on behalf of a dozen manufacturers in In re Pharmaceutical Average Wholesale Price Litigation, M.D.L. 1456, pending in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Jim also successfully represented a manufacturer in a class action trial in New Orleans, Louisiana, state court, at the conclusion of which the jury returned a verdict in the defense's favor rejecting the plaintiffs' proposed multibillion-dollar medical monitoring fund.

As a member of the ABA Mass Torts Committee's Class Action Subcommittee, he is a frequent author and speaker on class action and complex litigation issues. He is also very involved in pro bono efforts. In 2006 Jim led a team in securing a significant civil rights victory for a class of 11,000 special needs foster and adopted children. Senior U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright observed that the suit was among the most important cases he has addressed in his 27-year career on the bench. Utilizing a $100,000 attorneys' fee award donated by the firm, Jim then established "Lawyers for Kids," a charitable foundation which supports charities that provide services to foster and adopted children and their parents.

Jim's litigation expertise has been recognized in the 2005, 2007 and 2008 editions of Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers.

County of Santa Clara v. Astra USA, Inc., et al., 257 F.R.D. 207 (N.D. Cal. 2009)

In re Neurontin Marketing, Sales Practices, and Product Liability Litig., 257 F.R.D. 315 (D. Mass. 2009)

In re Neurontin Marketing, Sales Practices, and Product Liability Litig., 244 F.R.D. 89 (D. Mass. 2007)

E.C. et al. v. Sherman, 2006 WL 1307641 (W.D. Mo., May 9, 2006)

In re Pharmaceutical Indus. Average Wholesale Price Litig., 230 F.R.D. 61 (D. Mass. 2005)

Cocca v. Philip Morris Inc., 2001 WL 34090200 (Ariz.Sup. Ct. July 21, 2001)

Aksamit v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., C/A No. 6:97-3636-23, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18880 (D.S.C. Dec. 29, 2000)

Hansen v. American Tobacco Co., 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11277 (E.D. Ark. 1999)

Emig v. American Tobacco Co., 184 F.R.D. 379 (D. Kan. 1998)

Recent Publications

Certification Claims Come Under Tighter Scrutiny, The National Law Journal, December 4, 2006. View

Lawsuits Without Injury: The Rise of Consumer Protection Claims, Harris Martin Litigation Watch, October 2006. View

Eighth Circuit Joins Growing Number of Circuit Courts in Rejecting the Eisen Rule in the Class Certification Determination, Missouri Association of Defense Counsel Newsletter, Summer 2005. View

Class Action Appeals: Rule 23 (f) and its Jurisprudence, ABA Class Action and Derivative Suits, Summer 2005. View

Court's Use of Daubert-Lite Standard During Class Certification Proceedings is Analytically Less Filling, ABA Class Action and Derivative Suits, Fall 2004. View

Missouri Court Leads the Way in Utilizing Full Daubert Analysis During Class Certification Proceedings, Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers Newsletter, Fall 2004.

An Overview of Lone Pine Orders in Toxic Tort Litigation, Defense Counsel Journal, October 2004. View

Misplaced Reliance on Eisen and ‘Lower’ Daubert Standard Leads to Certification of Historic Class, For the Defense, September 2004. View

Kansas Supreme Court Clarifies Class Certification Standards, Kansas Association of Defense Counsel Newsletter, Summer 2004. View

Recent Presentations

"Missouri Class Actions and the Merchandising Practices Act," Missouri Judicial Advanced Trial Skills/Complex Litigation Seminar Course (April 30, 2010). View

"How Product-Related Risk Management Can be a Lifeline for Your Company," Sixth Annual Update of the Law (June 25, 2009).

"Managing Class Action Litigation Challenges: Winning Strategies for Tackling Certification, Experts, Damages, International Class Actions and CAFA," American Conference Institute’s Managing Complex Litigation: The 6th National In-House Senior-Level Defense Litigation Forum (February 27, 2009).

"Analyzing the Provisions of and Differences Between State Consumer Protection Statutes To Develop an Aggressive Defense Strategy," Drug and Device Forum on Defending Consumer Fraud Claims (September 23, 2008).

"Analysis of New Developments and Trends in Class Action Certification," ACI Forum on Positioning the Class Action Defense for Early Success (September 26, 2007).

Jim is admitted to practice before the state courts of Kansas and Missouri; the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas and the Western District of Missouri; and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth and Ninth Circuits.

1982   J.D., University of Kansas School of Law

1978   B.A., cum laude, University of Kansas

Muehlberger