William G. Beck

Partner - Email

Profile
Pressroom

Bill Beck has more than 33 years of experience as a trial lawyer. Bill’s national practice consists of trials, arbitrations, administrative proceedings, mediations and negotiations to resolve high stakes, technical, complex disputes involving environmental liability and insurance coverage.

Toxic Tort. Bill is particularly experienced in defending major toxic tort litigation. His key wins include summary judgments and voluntary dismissals of a large group of high-profile, Erin Brockovich-created, hexavalent chromium exposure class actions, mass actions and individual suits; a defense verdict in a five-week groundwater jury trial; the nominal mass settlement of a 2,000-plaintiff groundwater and air case; and defeating class certification on pleadings alone. Bill recently resolved a 96-home groundwater class action, mostly at insurer expense, and settled a subsurface landfill gas class action for about $9,000 per home located above the gas migration. Bill is presently defending hundreds of odor nuisance lawsuit claims brought against swine farm operations, more alleged chromium exposure suits, and thousands of landfill gas exposure lawsuit claims. Bill is comfortable and experienced cross-examining and developing experts in key technical fields such as epidemiology, risk assessment, molecular biology and carcinogenesis, environmental monitoring, geotechnical engineering and analytical chemistry.

Insurance Coverage. Bill has been lead counsel for plaintiffs prosecuting environmental insurance coverage and bad faith lawsuits and claims involving more than 450 sites and the laws of more than 40 states. Bill’s insurance coverage team has expertise in insurance archaeology, policy analysis, charting, allocation, claim development, settlement negotiations, coverage litigation, and alternative coverage dispute resolution. Together with Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, Bill represents innocent people who have been wrongfully imprisoned in obtaining compensation via law enforcement liability and other insurance, working nationally to establish cutting edge coverage theories. Bill has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars from insurers.

Superfund. Bill has defended companies against major environmental liabilities for decades, including more than 80 federal and state Superfund sites in more than 25 states. Bill has special expertise in operator allocation, transporter liability and allocation, municipal solid waste liability and allocation, successor liability, orphan share and natural resource damages issues.

Court Memberships

Missouri
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, including its Trial Bar
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas

Honors

Named the policyholder-side “Missouri Insurance Law Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers, 2012
Named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in the United States, 2007-2009
Rated one of The Best Lawyers in America® since 2005
Selected as Leading Lawyer for Business by Chambers USA since 2004
Chosen for Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers since 2005 (top 100 in Missouri, top 50 in Kansas City)
Biography included in Who’s Who in American Law®
Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating - AV Preeminent

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association and its Litigation, Insurance and Environmental Sections
Defense Research Institute and its Trial Techniques Committee
The Missouri Bar
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
Kansas City Public Improvements Advisory Committee, past Chairman
Citizens Association of Kansas City, past Chairman
Kansas City Community Infrastructure Committee, past Finance Chairman
Midwest Innocence Project Advisory Board

Publications

Co-author, “Law Enforcement Liability Insurance,” New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Ed. §33, 2011
Co-author, “Environmental Insurance,” Appleman on Insurance Law and Practice, 2nd ed. Matthew Bender & Company, Inc., 2008
Co-author, “Understanding Environmental Insurance,” Appleman on Insurance Law and Practice, 2nd ed. Matthew Bender & Company, Inc., 2008