Randall E. Hendricks

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Most people have favorite restaurants. Others have favorite vacation spots. Randy Hendricks has a favorite courtroom.

“It’s hard to surpass the old Federal Court building at 811 Grand in Kansas City,” Randy Hendricks says in commenting on the venues where he spent the last three plus decades. “The oversized courtrooms, paneling and finish give the venue an atmosphere of importance equal to the seriousness of the matter to your client. I always wanted the jury to feel respectful of their role in the process.”

Randy Hendricks has tried, as lead counsel, more complex commercial cases to a verdict than perhaps any attorney in the Kansas City area. “In a litigation setting, I’ve always enjoyed the competitive challenge of advocacy,” Hendricks says. “It’s why I became a trial lawyer versus a corporate lawyer. Even as a young man growing up in the late 60s and early 70s, I knew that litigation would be the career path I wanted as a lawyer.”

Hendricks clerked in both California and Washington, D.C. before joining Stinson Mag & Fizzell in Kansas City. But after graduating from the University of Michigan Law School (cum laude) Stinson allowed Randy to be a trial lawyer immediately, which is what attracted him back to his home state, working on the most intricate commercial litigation the firm had.

In 1992, Hendricks and five colleagues formed what is now Rouse Hendricks German May PC. Here, all of the firms’ work is focused on litigation, and, if necessary, trips to the courtroom.

“Complex financial commercial litigation is where the challenge is greater and the analytical demands are the highest,” Hendricks says. “When we get involved with a client, often times the dollar amounts at stake are some of the largest that the client has ever dealt with on a legal matter. And they know that we’re willing and prepared to head to trial if the client’s best interest demands it. Not all firms have that track record. Considering our size, the firm has gone to trial more than any other group of trial lawyers.”

“The modern courtrooms provide the venue for what juries now expect, which are visual reinforcement of the evidence through monitors and other audio-video equipment,” he says. “And those are important tools for advocacy on the part of our clients. But the new courtrooms just don’t have the same somber atmosphere as the old courthouse.”

Representative Cases:

• KCPL v. Bibb et.al., (Jackson County, Missouri 2004)
• Fitness Quest v. Stamina Products, (Federal Court - Ohio 2004)
• Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation v. Westinghouse, ( 2004)
• Excel Laminates v. Lear Corporation, (Federal Court - Kansas 2003)
• PAS Communications v. Sprint Corporation, 139 F.Supp.2d 1149 (D.Kan. 2001) (Federal Court - Kansas 2001)
• Battenfeld of America Holding Co. and SMS Capital Corp. v. Baird, Kurtz & Dobson, 60 F.Supp.2d 1189 (D.Kan. 1999) (Federal Court - Kansas 1999)

Areas of Practice:

100% Complex Business and Commercial Litigation

Bar Admissions:

Missouri, 1973

Kansas, 1995
U.S. District Court District of Kansas, 1995
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri, 1973
U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri, 1973
U.S. Federal Courts, 1973
U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, 1989
U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 1973
U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 1986
U.S. Tax Court, 1995

Education:

The University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1973
J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
Honors: Cum Laude

University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 1970
B.A.
Honors: Magna Cum Laude

Published Works:

Cross Examination of Plaintiffs Liability Expert, UMKC Press, 1988
Punitive Damages, UMKC Press, 1988

Attorney Experience & Judicial Clerkship:

Stinson Mag & Fizzell, Partner

References:

Jeff Hutchens, Hutchens Industries, Inc.
Kevin Gerschefske, Stamina Products
Bill Riggins, Kansas City Power & Light
David Tucker, American Century