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Meredith A. Webster

Partner

Meredith focuses her practice on litigation. She litigates insurance coverage and bad faith actions across the country. She also routinely represents businesses in contract, employment and intellectual property disputes. 

Insurance

Meredith practices in one of the most difficult jurisdictions for insurance carriers, and advises insurance carriers from the onset of a claim through trial. From analyzing coverage under an insurance policy pre-suit to defending bad faith and vexatious refusal claims, Meredith provides strategic recommendations to manage and evaluate risk and to resolve litigation favorably for carriers. Her experience includes multiple cases involving seven- and eight-figure demands and set-up judgments.

Meredith’s national insurance practice is comprehensive, and encompasses:

  • Coverage determinations for third-party claims under general liability, professional liability, excess and umbrella, commercial crime, and other liability policies and specialized coverage forms
  • Coverage determinations for first-party commercial property and business interruption claims
  • Litigating declaratory judgment, vexatious refusal to pay, equitable garnishment, bad faith, subrogation, contribution and reformation actions.
Business Litigation

Meredith works with small businesses and large corporations to protect their interests, even including locating other resources and personnel to meet their non-litigation needs. Meredith routinely provides counsel and litigates breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and employment related claims.

Speaking Engagement
  • "Best Practices for Reservation of Rights Letters Webinar,” National Association of Women Lawyers, September 12, 2017 (Presenter)
Community Involvement
  • SevenDays® Make a Ripple, Change the World, chair of Youth Competitions
  • Unicorn Theatre, board member

  • Obtained determination of no coverage and dismissal with prejudice of assignee and judgment creditor’s complaint seeking to garnish insured’s homeowner’s insurance policy in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 
  • Obtained dismissal with prejudice for the insurance company in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in a declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking defense and indemnity under a Management Liability Policy for a putative class action lawsuit against a credit union. 
  • Obtained summary judgment for the insurance company in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in a declaratory judgment action seeking a determination that there was no duty to defend and indemnify an underlying class action lawsuit alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and related common law claims.
  • Obtained summary judgment for insurance company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma on a $1 million claim for death benefits under an ERISA-governed plan.
  • Obtained dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction of one defendant and successfully defeated motion for preliminary injunction against the second defendant in trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
  • Successfully intervened on behalf of insurance company in underlying lawsuit in St. Louis County Circuit Court after the plaintiff and the defendant entered into a Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.065 agreement and obtained order granting new trial. 
  • Obtained summary judgment in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on breach of contract, vexatious refusal to pay and bad faith failure to settle claims arising from a property damage claim under a commercial general liability policy. Drafted briefs submitted to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed summary judgment. Elec. Power Sys. Int’l, Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 880 F.3d 1007 (8th Cir. 2018).
  • Successfully assisted small business post-verdict to protect its assets and negotiate settlement with the plaintiff for approximately one-sixth the amount of the adverse judgment in an employment discrimination lawsuit.
  • Successfully defended against summary judgment in an equitable garnishment action in Jackson County, Missouri, and resolved the matter for substantially less than the underlying multimillion dollar judgment.
  • Served as trial counsel in five-week trial in Story County, Iowa, resulting in defense verdict and successful counterclaim verdict for farmers accused of bribing an agronomy company employee to obtain millions of dollars in discounted pricing on agronomy products. Westco Agronomy Co., LLC v. William S. Wollesen, Story County, Iowa District Court Case No. LACV046817.
  • Routinely provide coverage opinions and counsel about insurance coverage for personal injury, construction defect and other property damage, personal and advertising injury, additional insured, fire loss, criminal or fraud and malpractice claims.
  •  Assisted as member of the firm’s litigation team responsible for defending a community hospital against hostile efforts to sell it to a for-profit purchaser.

  • Missouri-Kansas Super Lawyers® Rising Stars, 2015-2020