McNally, John F

Todd M. McGuire was born and raised in Elgin, Illinois. In 1996, Todd received his B.A. in Rhetoric and Communications Studies from Drake University, summa cum laude, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Mortar Board and Omicron Delta Kappa. In 1999, Todd obtained his J.D., with highest honors (graduating first in his class), from Drake. Todd served as Editor in Chief of the Drake Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif.

After graduating from law school, Todd began his legal career in the Kansas City office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (now known as SNR Denton), one of the largest law firms in the country. Todd was a litigation associate, specializing in antitrust, white collar criminal defense and complex commercial/business litigation. 

In October 2001, Todd joined Stueve Siegel Hanson, LLP. In January 2005, Todd was elected to the Firm's partnership as an equity partner.

Todd is an experienced commercial litigator and trial attorney.  He has successfully represented clients in numerous jury trials in both federal and state court. Todd has also successfully represented clients involved in arbitration proceedings.  In addition to trial work, Todd has successfully handled appellate matters in both state and federal court. Todd is admitted to practice in federal and state courts in Missouri and Kansas, as well as before the Supreme Court of the United States and United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Tenth Circuits.

Todd is a member of the American Bar Association, Lawyers' Association of Kansas City and Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. Todd has been on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers' Association of Kansas City since 2006. Todd was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2010.

Todd is a speaker and presenter on e-discovery and other litigation-related issues. Todd is a regular participant at the Sedona Conference Institute Program on Getting Ahead of the e-Discovery Curve, and has hosted CLE programs on e-discovery for both LAKC and KCMBA.  Todd has also presented on the topic of Wage and Hour litigation and has been a chapter author for BNA's Wage and Hour Laws: A State-by-State Survey.

Todd has been recognized as a philanthropic leader at Drake University through membership in the President's Circle. Todd is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Donald V. Adams Leadership Institute at Drake.

TRIAL AND LITIGATION EXPERIENCE

Over the past 12 years, Todd has successfully represented a variety of clients in complex civil and criminal matters at both the trial court and appellate levels in Courts across the country. He has defended and/or prosecuted claims in the areas of antitrust, business litigation, employment, wage and hour litigation, ERISA, RICO, environmental contamination, white collar criminal defense, insurance coverage and bad faith, copyright infringement and class/collective actions. 

The following cases are illustrative examples of Todd's past trial and litigation experience:

Heartland Surgical Specialty Hospital LLC v. Midwest Division, Inc., et al. (Antitrust/Business Litigation) Todd recently completed the successful multi-year prosecution of a landmark Sherman Act, Section 1 antitrust lawsuit on behalf of physician-owned Heartland Surgical Specialty Hospital LLC against the largest managed care organizations and hospital systems in Kansas City.  Heartland claimed that the dominant hospital systems had conspired among themselves and with the dominant managed care organizations to prevent Heartland from obtaining in-network provider contracts. Settlements occurred with certain defendants at various times in the intense multi-year litigation. After the trial court denied defendants’ motions for summary judgment on Heartland's antitrust conspiracy claims and ruled that Heartland had a viable damages claim in excess of $140,000,000 in treble damages, settlements were reached with the remaining defendants and the case was finally resolved shortly before trial. Todd was responsible for the day-to-day management of the litigation, including discovery that included more than 100 depositions and the exchange of more than three million pages of documents. Todd took or defended many of the fact and expert depositions in the case. The case was the first in the District of Kansas to utilize a stipulated e-discovery protocol to address the complex e-discovery issues in the case.  Todd also had primary responsibility for the successful opposition to Defendants' motions for summary judgment and efforts to limit damages in the case.  The case was reported in Modern Healthcare and The National Law Journal as well as other leading health care and legal publications and was followed closely by national health care and antitrust experts. Several published decisions from the United States District Court for the District of Kansas chronicle the litigation and the significant legal issues addressed in this landmark case.

Kansas State University et al. v. Prince (Employment/Business Litigation) Todd recently represented Kansas State University and its athletic corporation in a lawsuit filed in the District Court of Riley County, Kansas, asking the court to declare invalid a "memorandum of understanding" ("MOU") signed by Bob Krause, its former athletic director, and by former head football coach Ron Prince for a company called In Pursuit of Perfection, LLC.  The challenged "memorandum of understanding" purported to obligate K-State's athletic corporation to make $3.2 million in deferred compensation payments to In Pursuit of Perfection, LLC following Coach Prince's termination as K-State's head football coach.  U.S. Senior District Judge Sam A. Crow issued an important published decision in connection with the litigation.  Kansas State University objected to Prince's attempt to have this case heard in federal court and argued that the federal court was required to return the case to the District Court of Riley County, Kansas.  The federal court agreed with Kansas State University; concluding that Prince had improperly removed the case to federal court and that the case must be remanded to the State Court in which Kansas State University originally filed suit against Prince.  Following the completion of discovery, the District Court of Riley County, Kansas considered and rejected Prince's motion for summary judgment seeking a legal determination on the validity and enforceability of the MOU.  The Court concluded that genuine issues of material fact existed as the validity and enforceability of the MOU, and held that those issues were properly for a jury to determine at trial.  Shortly before trial and after Kansas State University sought summary judgment on Prince's numerous counterclaims, the lawsuit was resolved by settlement.  Todd was responsible for day-to-day management of the litigation (including motion practice and briefing) and produced several of the key fact witnesses for their depositions. The case was followed closely and reported upon by numerous local, regional and national media outlets.

Trout v. Kansas City Life Insurance Company (Employment/Business Litigation) Todd was co-lead counsel in a successful multi-week jury trial in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri. The jury’s verdict was in favor of Todd’s client on his breach of contract claim in the amount of $500,000. The jury’s verdict was also in favor of Todd’s client on the defendant’s counterclaim. The Court subsequently awarded court costs and prejudgment interest, bringing the total judgment to in excess of $650,000 which, when combined with the $1.4 million payment made by KC Life during the pendency of the litigation, resulted in a total recovery to Todd's client in excess of $2 million. Prior to trial, Todd successfully opposed defendant’s efforts to compel the case to arbitration and secured favorable rulings from both the trial court and court of appeals in connection with those efforts. Todd was responsible for the day-to-day management of the litigation (including motion practice and briefing) and took or defended many of the key depositions in the case.

Horizon Holdings, LLC et al. v. Genmar Holdings, LLC et al. (Employment/Business Litigation) Todd secured a $2.58 million verdict in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas after a two week jury trial, which ranked in the area's top 10 verdicts in that year. The case involved claims for breach of a purchase agreement and employment contracts against the largest recreational boat manufacturer in the world. Following the jury's verdict, the Court awarded an additional $865,000 in attorneys' fees. At trial, Todd had responsibility for the direct and cross-examination of several witnesses, including Defendants' Chief Financial Officer and the President of one of Defendants' largest boat divisions. Todd also had primary responsibility for dispositive motion practice, including successful opposition to Defendants' summary judgment and post-judgment motions. Todd deposed several defense witnesses over months of extensive discovery and produced one of the three individual plaintiffs for his deposition. Todd also coordinated document discovery in the case, which included indexing and issue coding more than 20,000 documents. Following the trial, Todd had primary responsibility for successfully defending the jury's verdict and the trial court's decisions on appeal to the Tenth Circuit. Ultimately, the entire judgment (totaling almost $3.6 million) was fully satisfied. Numerous reported decisions resulted from this litigation in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

United States v. Smigel, et al. (Antitrust / White Collar Criminal Defense) Todd obtained a not guilty verdict for the president of a metal building insulation company accused of criminal violations of the federal antitrust laws. The case followed several convictions of individuals in the same industry, and one witness who pled guilty testified against Todd's client at trial. Todd served as the second chair trial attorney for this seven week jury trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, which involved more than 50 government and defense witnesses. Todd had responsibility for the direct and cross-examination of several witnesses at trial. Todd also took the lead on coordinating the extensive open file discovery in the case, which involved review, analysis and issue coding of more than 1,400 boxes of documents obtained by the United States Department of Justice during a five year nationwide investigation into suspected price-fixing in the metal building insulation industry.

O'Grady v. Aquila Merchant Services, Inc. (Employment) Todd successfully defended Aquila in a multi-million dollar lawsuit brought by a former employee asserting claims of breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation. After successfully having the case referred from state court to arbitration, the case was tried in a multi-day arbitration proceeding, which resulted in a full defense verdict on all claims. Todd had primary responsibility for the briefing seeking to compel arbitration, discovery in the litigation/arbitration, direct examination of Aquila's corporate representative at the arbitration, and post-arbitration briefing.

Garner et al. v. Regis Corporation (Wage & Hour Litigation/Collective Action) Todd represented almost 1,300 current and former salon managers and stylists in a certified Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), "off the clock" case against Regis Corporation, the world's largest owner, operator, franchisor and acquirer of hair and retail product salons. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri and included class members from throughout the United States. The case was ultimately resolved in a favorable court-approved settlement. Todd was responsible for day-to-day management for the litigation (including motion practice, briefing and discovery). 

Walker et al. v. Monsanto Company et al. (ERISA/Class Action) Todd represented a certified class of ERISA plan participants against Monsanto, Pharmacia and Solutia for violations of ERISA in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Todd had primary responsibility for briefing to the trial court on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment on the issue of liability, which resulted in a summary judgment determination in plaintiffs' favor on one of their claims. Todd also had significant responsibility for additional appellate proceedings on other claims before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of the United States.  

Global Jet v. Flight Safety International (Antitrust/Copyright) Todd efficiently prosecuted and resolved by settlement a Sherman Act, Section 1 claim against Flight Safety International alleging conspiracy to restrain trade in the United  States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.  Todd's client, Global Jet, estimated that its damages exceeded $20 million in lost profits.  Flight Safety responded to the suit by asserting a multi-million dollar counterclaim alleging copyright violations associated with certain corporate jet maintenance training manuals.  After an early confidential exchange of documents and information protected by federal rul 408, the case was resolved by settlement.

Truck Insurance Exchange v. Prairie Framing, LLC, et al. (Insurance Coverage/Bad Faith) Todd played a significant role in defending before the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District a trial court's $5,775,000 judgment in favor of his clients in a wrongful death action and the trial court's summary judgment decision finding the insurer to have breached its duties to defend and indemnify and liable for acting in bad faith, as a matter of law, in not settling the claims. The Court of Appeals affirmed the damages and summary judgment finding of breach of the duties to defend and indemnify, but remanded for a factual finding on the issue of bad faith refusal to settle. Upon remand, the case settled.

Multi-Media International, LLC v. PROMAG Retail Services, LLC (RICO / Business Litigation) Todd defended a RICO and business tort action brought in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Of particular significance, Todd had primary responsibility for briefing on a motion to dismiss the Complaint in which the Court was persuaded to overrule its own prior decision on an important issue of statutory interpretation concerning RICO's national service of process provision, 18 U.S.C. 1965(b). Todd also successfully persuaded the Court to dismiss the corporate defendant for failure state a RICO claim under 18 U.S.C. 1962(c) because of plaintiff's failure to allege a RICO enterprise distinct from the defendant persons. The Court's decision is reported at 343 F. Supp. 2d 1024 (D. Kan. 2004). In separate briefing, Todd also successfully persuaded the Court to deny plaintiff's motion to compel discovery. Shortly after these decisions, the case was dismissed by stipulation of the parties.

American Central et al. v. Union Pacific Resources, et al. (Antitrust) Todd played a significant role in securing a favorable arbitration decision and trial court judgment in favor of Duke Energy Corporation in a major antitrust case in the natural gas gathering, processing and liquids pipeline industries. Todd had significant responsibility for the extensive motion practice in this case, which included successful briefing to compel arbitration of the primary antitrust claims, subsequent summary judgment briefing on the merits of other antitrust claims and Daubert challenges to various expert witnesses. Todd also had primary responsibility for the contemporaneous preparation of proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, which were presented to the arbitrator immediately upon the conclusion of a two week hearing. Todd was also extensively involved in the review and analysis of several thousand pages of document discovery and deposed several of plaintiffs' witnesses during the discovery phase of the case.

United States v. McCarthy, et al. (RICO/White Collar Criminal Defense) Todd played a significant role in the favorable resolution of a complex criminal case involving allegations of racketeering, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The case involved the largest criminal indictment ever brought in the Western District of Missouri. Todd had primary responsibility for the review and analysis of thousands of documents and FBI 302's that involved complex stock and real estate valuation issues and tracing of assets through multiple transactions involving multiple parties and corporate forms. Todd also had considerable responsibility for extensive research and drafting of several sections of a comprehensive motion to dismiss the indictment and other pre-trial motions attacking the government's case.

Searchhound.com v. GlobalNet Financial.com (Business Litigation) Todd played a significant role in securing a $125,000 award in a AAA international arbitration involving a commercial contract dispute concerning registration of securities. Todd prepared the case for the arbitration hearing, including the coordination of document discovery and witness interviews. Todd had primary responsibility for pre-arbitration and post-arbitration briefing, and successfully negotiated a post-arbitration settlement of the matter.

Directory Services v. Walsworth (Business Litigation) Todd represented a minority shareholder sued by the controlling shareholders to rescind his 20% interest in a successful directory binding/printing business located in Nebraska. As part of the defense of the action, Todd's client successfully counterclaimed for an immediate and expedited accounting. The Court granted the request for the accounting, substantial document discovery ensued, which was followed by depositions of the controlling shareholders. Shortly thereafter, the matter was resolved by settlement and the case dismissed by stipulation of the parties.

CURRENT CASES

The following are a few of the major cases that Todd is currently working on:

BBA US Holdings, Inc., et al. v. City of Kansas City, Missouri et al. (Business Litigation) Todd represents James E. Stowers III, Hangar Ten, LLC (formerly known as Missouri River Aviation, LLC) and MKC Aviation Fuel, LLC (collectively the MKC Aviation Defendants) in a lawsuit pending in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri.  BBA's petition alleges claims of fraud, negligent misrepresentation and promissory estoppel against the City and claims of civil conspiracy and tortious interference with a contract or business expectancy against the MKC Aviation Defendants.  The MKC Aviation Defendants deny any liability or wrongdoing, and have asserted a counterclaim for tortious interference with contract and/or business expectancy against BBA.  The lawsuit concerns the parties' businesses and operations at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Kansas City Airport.

Petroski et al. v. H&R Block (Wage and Hour Litigation/Class and Collective Action) Todd represents thousands of H&R Block tax professionals alleging that H&R Block violated federal and state law by failing to pay them for the 24 hours of training required by H&R Block after a tax season in order for its tax professionals to continue in their employment and prepare returns for H&R Block in the next tax season.  Plaintiffs allege that because this training is mandatory and occurs during the existence of a continuing employment relationship between H&R Block and its tax professionals, these training hours are compensable under federal and state law.  The lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.  The Court certified a nationwide collective action under the FLSA and a California and New York Rule 23 class. Nearly 18,000 H&R Block tax professionals have joined the collective action lawsuit seeking unpaid wages for these mandatory training hours.

Henry et al. v. Dow Chemical Company (Environmental Contamination/Class Action) Todd represents property owners in the Tittabawassee River flood plain against the Dow Chemical Company for contaminating the river and flood plain with dangerous amounts of dioxin.  The lawsuit is pending in the Circuit Court for the County of Saginaw, Michigan.  Generally, the lawsuit seeks damages which will adequately and fully compensate all those who owned real property within the Tittabawassee River flood plain on February 1, 2002, including damages for lost property value and loss of use and enjoyment of property.  Todd has had primary responsibility for numerous briefs filed in the Michigan circuit court, court of appeals and supreme court, which have resulted in numerous reported decisions of major significance in the areas of environmental contamination and class actions.