Professional Profile

Kurt is a commercial litigator with broad experience defending businesses in a wide-variety of contract, tort and statutory concerns including large-scale class actions. Chambers USA, 2012 refers to Kurt as “a well-regarded trial lawyer, particularly sought after for his large-scale class-action work, as well as general commercial litigation and product liability cases.”

Kurt presently serves as counsel for a number of motor vehicle manufacturers, both foreign and domestic, that are subject to federal and state franchise statutes including manufacturers of automobiles, trucks (light and heavy duty), motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, engines and other power-train components, and watercraft. He regularly counsels manufacturers on all aspects of their commercial relationships with their authorized dealers and routinely represents manufacturers in dealer related litigation, including:

• Dealership termination
• Dealership relocation
• Denial of dealership transfers
• Incentive programs
• Allocation disputes
• Warranty reimbursement
• Licensing issues
• Exclusivity provisions
• Advertising programs
• Discontinuance of brand and post-termination
• State Attorney General enforcement actions

For more than 20 years, Kurt has defended motor vehicle manufacturers in actions across the country, including courts and administrative agencies in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

A life-long Chicago Cubs fan, and late-in-life marathon runner, Kurt is married to Ann Thomas and they have one daughter, Claire.

Education

• Harvard Law School, JD, 1987 cum laude
  • Executive Editor Harvard Environmental Law Review 
• University of Chicago, BA, (Highest Honors) 1983
  • Student Marshall
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Goethe Prize Award

Admissions & Qualifications

• Missouri
• Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
• U.S. District Court, District of Kansas
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Professional Memberships

• Member Board of Directors, Lawyer's Association of Kansas City
• Member Board of Directors, Missouri Lawyer Trust Account Foundation
• Missouri Bar Association