Founding partner John J. Schirger of Miller Schirger, LLC, has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© 2024 rankings for Commercial Litigation, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs, and Litigation – Insurance. Partner Matthew W. Lytle has been named to the 2024 rankings for his work in Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs.

Only the top 5% of attorneys in America are named to The Best Lawyers in America. Top-rated attorneys review nominees within their geographic and practice areas in a competitive selection process.

Miller Schirger is a Kansas City, Missouri-based law firm focused on resolving complex disputes on behalf of businesses and individuals nationwide. Information regarding the firm, the scope of its practice, and its honors is available at www.millerschirger.com

Miller Schirger LLC has secured a $325 million cash settlement on behalf of owners of more than 760,000 universal life insurance policies nationwide. The settlement represents a culmination of significant effort on the part of Miller Schirger and co-counsel at Stueve Siegel Hanson in litigating eleven class action cases against State Farm for more than six years in federal district courts in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

The plaintiffs alleged that State Farm systematically overcharged them for decades. State Farm denied the allegations.

“We are proud to fully and finally settle these claims on behalf of State Farm policyholders nationwide. We are pleased that our work is putting money back where it belongs, in the hands of policyholders who have dutifully paid premiums,” said founding partner, John Schirger.

In several class action settlements in the last six years, Miller Schirger has generated settlement value in excess of $2.5 billion dollars for life insurance policyholders. In addition to the extraordinary value generated through settlements, Miller Schirger and co-counsel have also tried and won three class action jury trials against life insurance companies.

Missouri Lawyers Media annually recognizes lawyers for achieving the top verdicts and settlements in the state. For 2022, Missouri Lawyers Media announced Miller Schirger had earned recognition in two categories of its annual awards. Miller Schirger attorneys John Schirger, Matthew Lytle, and Joseph Feierabend were honored at the Missouri Lawyers Awards ceremony on Thursday, February 9^th at the Missouri Athletic Club in Saint Louis, Missouri for having secured both a Top Plaintiff’s Verdict and a Top Settlement in 2022.

• No. 4, Top Plaintiffs’ Verdicts:

Karr v. Kansas City Life Insurance Company | $28.4 million | A class action for breach of contract which alleged Kansas City Life systematically overcharged the class of policyholders over the past 30 years.

• No. 3, Top Settlements:

Jackson County v. Trinity Industries Inc. | $56 million | A class-action settlement to recover the costs of replacing faulty roadway safety equipment.

The full list of 2022 Top Verdicts & Settlements winners is available here (subscription may be required).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (December 12, 2022) – A unanimous Jackson County, Missouri jury awarded $28.4 million to a class of more than 8,000 Missouri owners of universal life insurance products issued by the Defendant, Kansas City Life Insurance Company. Universal life insurance is a type of life insurance that includes an interest-bearing savings account, or cash value, from which the insurer deducts money each month to cover certain deductions identified in the policy. The class action, filed in 2019, was brought on behalf of current and former policy owners for overcharges to the cash values of their policies.

The class received full damages on all three counts of breach of contract, which alleged Kansas City Life systematically overcharged the class of policyholders over the past 30 years. (Karr v. Kansas City Life Insurance Co., 1916-CV26645).

“We are very pleased with the jury’s verdict,” said Matt Lytle, trial counsel for the Missouri class. “Policyholders like Mr. Karr, who have dutifully paid their policy premiums year after year, deserve to have their charges determined as written in their policies and the wrongfully taken funds returned to them.”

The Karr case is one of five state-wide class actions being prosecuted by Miller Schirger LLC and Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP claiming Kansas City Life has systematically overcharged its universal life insurance policyholders for decades. In a pretrial ruling, the Court determined that Kansas City Life had violated policies at issue as a matter of law.  The jury was asked to determine if those violations caused damages to policyholders and, if so, the amount of those damages.  The trial lasted three days.

Miller Schirger and Stueve Siegel Hanson have looked at dozens of policies like the one at issue in this trial, and continue to evaluate such claims and prosecute similar cases across the country.  They have obtained significant settlements and judgments in numerous cases involving alleged wrongful cost of insurance charges on universal life insurance policies.

Thomson Reuters has honored three Miller Schirger attorneys in its Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers 2022 edition, including founding partners Steve Miller and John Schirger, and partner Matt Lytle. The 2022 edition of Missouri and Kansas Rising Stars has honored partners Joseph Feierabend and Toby Hausner.

Super Lawyers has recognized Steve Miller in the area of construction litigation since its inception in 2005. He is also honored to have been previously selected to the Top 50 Kansas City Attorneys, and to have been previously identified as one of the Top 100 Missouri and Kansas Attorneys. John Schirger has been recognized by Super Lawyers in the area of business litigation since 2011 and has previously been recognized as a Top 100 Missouri and Kansas Attorney. Matt Lytle, a former Rising Star (2011-2012), has been recognized by Super Lawyers in the area of class action/mass torts since 2013.

Joseph Feierabend and Toby Hausner have been named to the Rising Stars list since 2019. Eligibility for inclusion on the Rising Stars list is based on the candidate being either 40 years old or younger, or in practice of law for 10 years or less. The top 2.5 percent of attorneys make the Rising Stars list in each state.

Candidates for Super Lawyers are identified through peer nomination, evaluation and independent research. The attorneys are evaluated on 12 indicators of professional achievement and peer recognition, including experience, representative clients, verdicts and settlements, honors and awards, and pro bono and community service. The top 5 percent are selected to Super Lawyers.

John J. Schirger has been named to Missouri Lawyers Media’s 2021 Power List for Commercial and Consumer Litigation. The Power List recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves through notable jury trial outcomes, significant settlements (both in class action suits and individual claims), and set forth critical precedents. The selection process by Missouri Lawyers Media of the 30 most powerful commercial and consumer attorneys in Missouri is honed through research on verdicts and settlements, and interviews of attorneys and other leaders around the state.  Commercial and Consumer attorneys often champion the underdog and, in some cases, the individual’s claim becomes a class action which can effect prominent change for the masses.

For over 25 years, John has represented businesses and individuals nationwide in cases involving business and commercial disputes, securities litigation matters and class actions.

On December 10, 2020, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, selected Miller Schirger partner John Schirger as Co-Lead and Interim Class Counsel for all Plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation styled – In Re: United Specialty Insurance Company Ski Pass Insurance Litigation.

Consumers who purchased ski pass insurance filed lawsuits nationwide against United Specialty Insurance Company for refusing to reimburse policyholders who were unable to use their ski passes during the entire 2019-2020 ski season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cases were consolidated and transferred to Judge Gonzalez Rogers by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Several law firms competed for lead counsel status.

The full order by the Hon. Judge Rogers can be found here.

November 2, 2020

Missouri Lawyers Media has named John J. Schirger to its Power List for Commercial and Consumer Litigation. The Power List denotes attorneys who have distinguished themselves through notable jury trial outcomes, significant settlements (both in class action suits and individual claims), and set forth critical precedents. The selection process by Missouri Lawyers Media of the 30 most powerful commercial and consumer attorneys in Missouri is honed through research on verdicts and settlements, and interviews of attorneys and other leaders around the state.  Commercial and Consumer attorneys often champion the underdog and, in some cases, the individual’s claim becomes a class action which can effect prominent change for the masses.

For over 25 years, John has represented businesses and individuals nationwide in cases involving business and commercial disputes, securities litigation matters and class actions.

https://molawyersmedia.com/2020/10/26/the-power-list-commercial-and-consumer-law/

On April 2, 2020, a California class action against State Farm Life Insurance Company was certified as a class by a federal court.  The life insurance product at issue is State Farm’s Universal Life Insurance Policy, Form 94030.

Plaintiff alleges that State Farm overcharged policyholders through cost of insurance and administrative charges within the policies, failed to reduce insurance charges despite improving expectations of future mortality, and committed conversion of policyholder money.

The case is Elizabeth A. Bally vs. State Farm Life Insurance Company and is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs are represented by Miller Schirger and Stueve Siegel Hanson. A copy of Judge Charles R. Breyers Order granting class certification can be read <here>.

Miller Schirger has a successful record prosecuting class action cases alleging policy overcharges against the life insurance industry. Most recently, in June 2018, a jury awarded $34.3 million to State Farm Life Insurance policyholders at a class-action trial in Missouri. In May 2018, a California Court approved a $59.75 million nationwide class action settlement against John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.). In 2016, an Indiana Court granted final approval of a class action settlement valued at approximately $2.25 billion against The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company.

On March 23, 2017, a nationwide policyholder class was certified against John Hancock Life Insurance Company.  The life insurance product at issue is John Hancock’s Flex V Premium Variable Whole Life Insurance Policy. (more…)

Miller Schirger, LLC, along with co-counsel Fraser Stryker PC LLO of Omaha, Nebraska, recently obtained a complete defense verdict for Rotella’s Italian Bakery, Inc., a Nebraska based bakery company, after a four-day federal jury trial.
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Two Kansas City law firms played a role in a $2.25 billion out-of-state settlement for members of a class action lawsuit against The Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. that alleged policy overcharges. (more…)