Cook, Sidney E.

Mr. Fields specializes in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property and products liability cases. His commercial cases include prosecution and defense of business tort claims, contract claims and warranty claims. He has successfully litigated a variety of business disputes involving intellectual property, nondisclosure agreements, distribution agreements, sales under the UCC, construction disputes, railcar leases and commercial landlord-tenant actions. Mr. Fields also has extensive experience handling products liability cases involving significant property damage, serious personal injuries and deaths. In addition to his substantial commercial and products liability experience, he has handled several bankruptcy preference and adversary actions.

Mr. Fields is part of a national trial counsel team for a leading appliance manufacturer and has represented several other manufacturers on a national, regional and local basis. He has coordinated the defense of cases nationwide and supervised those cases through pre-suit investigation, discovery, trial, mediation, arbitration, dismissal or favorable settlement. His national counsel work has given him considerable experience successfully tendering product cases to foreign manufacturers who bear responsibility. His success for his clients has been attributed to his skill in simplifying complex issues into clear, logical arguments.

Mr. Fields has represented clients in dozens of federal and state courts throughout the country with great success. He has successfully arbitrated numerous cases through arbitration forums; taken and defended hundreds of depositions; participated in month-long jury trials; first-chaired bench trials; retained and developed medical, economic, engineering and fire expert witnesses; successfully argued many dispositive motions; handled cases involving substantial electronic discovery; and prepared winning appellate briefs to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Missouri Supreme Court and the Illinois Court of Appeals.

Since 1996, Mr. Fields has represented numerous pro bono clients through the Volunteer Attorney Project of Kansas City. He was selected for the Bar Leadership Academy of Kansas City, an organization designed to promote interaction with prominent civic, community, business and legal leaders. Mr. Fields is active in community affairs and a committed supporter of the Children’s Center For the Visually Impaired.