Lucas James Ude

Lucas Ude is a trial lawyer that concentrates his trial practice in defending his clients in high stakes and complex class actions, insurance coverage and insurance bad faith litigation. Lucas has been involved in defending his clients in matters involving alleged damages in the high eight figures including several matters that involved damages in the $20,000,000 to $50,000,000 range. He has successfully defended clients in lawsuits throughout Missouri, Illinois and Kansas and successfully represented clients in the filing of Declaratory Judgments and Interpleader actions to obtain timely resolutions of contested coverage and damage issues. The foundation of his success is his thorough preparation and straight forward approach both in the court room and in recognizing and briefing dispositive legal issues involved in complex litigation. As a result of his success and professional experience in the area of insurance coverage and bad faith, he is retained by insurance carriers to represent and advise them in all stages of pre-suit claim handling and litigation, including claims involving coverage disputes, bad faith liability and extra contractual exposure. In a recent complex class action filed in the United States Eastern District Court, Missouri, Lucas obtained a dismissal of the action by filing a comprehensive summary judgment on the substantive underlying legal issues, effectively ending the multimillion-dollar class action when the plaintiff dismissed the case. In addition to his work in the court room, Lucas has successfully represented insurers, private companies and individuals in high-stakes and complex appeals at the Appellate level in both state courts and in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. He is routinely involved in briefing and arguing matters before the Appellate Courts. Lucas also represents clients in high stakes arbitrations involving class action, insurance coverage, bad faith and construction defect matters. Regardless of the venue or forum, Lucas has developed a strong reputation for aggressively defending his clients in any adversarial proceeding and his clients know that Lucas will be working hard to defend their interests by thoroughly preparing the case for trial, arbitration or on appeal. In representing his clients, Lucas routinely provides presentations to keep his clients updated on the latest legal developments in their fields and provides numerous seminars for various clients and companies in working to keep his clients apprised of updates to the law in the areas in which they operate.