Tom Sterchi is a founding member and current co-chairman of the firm. He is an experienced trial lawyer who has successfully defended manufacturers of a variety of products including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automobiles, trucks, wheels, tires, heavy equipment, appliances and consumer products in a number of state and federal courts. His reputation in representing pharmaceutical and medical device companies is worldwide.  He has served as national coordinating trial counsel in litigation on numerous products. He has recently served as national coordinating and trial counsel for a nationally known pharmaceutical company in its hormone therapy litigation, and serves as national trial counsel for a prominent contrast media company. He also served as lead trial counsel in high-profile cases involving tampons (toxic shock syndrome), antibiotics and breast implants.

Tom has extensive experience in mass torts, multi-district litigation and in defending class action lawsuits. He has been successful in defeating class action attempts against the manufacturers of pharmaceutical and medical device products. In addition to his product liability practice, he practices in the areas of general civil and commercial litigation.

Memberships & Activities

• Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
  • Member of Product Liability Section, Trial Tactics, Practices and Procedures Section, and has served on the Membership Development Committee and New Members Committee; Former Chairman of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation Section
• Defense Research Institute
• Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
• Trial Attorneys of America
• Missouri Bar Association
  •  Biotech and Life Sciences Law Committee
• Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers
  • Board of Directors 1989-1995
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
  • Former Vice Chairman of Medical and Hospital  Relations Committee
• Active service in the United States Army 1969-1971

Publications

• Author: Proposed Federal Rules of Court Procedure Amendments Concerning Electronic Discovery: Will They Be Enough?, FDCC Quarterly, Volume 55, No. 2, Winter 2005.
• Contributing author: Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC) Consumer Fraud 50 State Survey, 2004, Section on Kansas Law.
• Contributing author: ALFA International Product Liability Law Practice Group Compendium of Product Liability Law Issues, 2004, Section on Kansas Law.
• Contributing author: Tort & Insurance Law Journal, Volume 35, Number 2, Winter 2000, "Recent Developments in Products, General Liability, and Consumer Law".
• "Defendant's Right to Secure Medical Information and Records Concerning Plaintiff"1990 Missouri Product Liability Case Survey Published in 1991.

Presentations

• Facilitated and participated in "Pricing, Process and Profit - A New Way of Doing Business" (Joint Law Firm Management Conference by FDCC and IADC, May 2013)

Awards & Recognition

• Selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers® in America, Kansas City Metropolitan Area, 2012-present
  • Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants "Lawyer of the Year" (2017)
  • Product Liability Litigation - Defendants "Lawyer of the Year" (2014, 2018)
  • Product Liability Litigation - Defendants (2012-present)
  • Commercial Litigation - Defendants (2013-present.)
  • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendant (2014-present)
• Elected to "An International Who's Who of Product Liability Defense Lawyers", 2002-present.
• Selected for inclusion in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers®, 2005-present.
• Recognized by LMG Life Sciences as a "Life Sciences Star" in the area of product liability, 2012-present.
• Recognized by Who's Who Legal: Life Sciences Edition, 2016-present.
• Recognized by Kansas City Business Journal as a "Best of the Bar" recipient, 2018.
• Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a "Litigation Star - Missouri", 2017-present.
• AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell for over 35 years.

News & Events

Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice, LLC Announces New Management

01.16.14 | Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice, LLC has named Thomas N. Sterchi and John W. Cowden as Co-Chairmen and James Scott Kreamer as Managing Member of the firm.

Sterchi Participates in Seminar on Law Firm Pricing, Process and Profit

05.29.13 | Tom Sterchi, a founding Member of the firm and Chairman of the firm's Executive Committee, recently facilitated and participated in a session at a Law Firm Management Conference entitled "Managing the 21st Century Law Firm: Is It Time to Upgrade Your Toolbox?"

Results

Arizona Judge Excludes Plaintiffs' Expert Witnesses on General Causation in Gadolinium Deposition Disease Cases

On August 2, 2019, Senior Judge Campbell ruled in an 85 page decision that the four expert witnesses put forth by plaintiffs' attorneys to testify regarding general causation would not be allowed to do so based on their failure to meet the requirements of Federal Rule 702 and the Daubert decision.

BSCR scores U.S. Supreme Court win in preemption case

BSCR’s health insurer client was sued in Missouri state court in 2011, by a plaintiff who suffered injuries in a car accident. Plaintiff was a federal government employee, whose insurance program fell under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act (FEHBA), a statute with

BSCR Wins Motion to Dismiss Pharmaceutical Company in Product Liability Action Alleging Innovator Liability

BSCR obtained a dismissal of a pharmaceutical company client in a product liability case. In that case, plaintiff alleged...

Summary Judgment Obtained after Plaintiff’s Experts Stricken under Daubert

BSCR obtained summary judgment in a medical device product liability case filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri following two successful motions striking plaintiff’s liability and causation experts. Plaintiff brought suit against our client, a manufacturer of a surgical suture, alleging...

BSCR Obtains Complete Dismissal of Cases Against Pharmaceutical Client

In 2007, Plaintiffs began filing lawsuits against four pharmaceutical manufacturers and sponsors of gadolinium based contrast agents ("GBCAs") alleging that the GBCAs caused or contributed to cause a rare disease now known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis ("NSF"). Close to 1000 cases were filed in various state and federal courts over a period of four years. . .