John F. Wilcox, Jr.

President

jwilcox@dysarttaylor.com                            Legal Assistant: Sandy Riley
816-714-3046                                                816-714-3033    
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“John’s results are outstanding and his personal and professional character is the highest I have ever encountered.”

Bio

Between his time as a prosecutor and his subsequent civil practice, John is an experienced litigator who has tried hundreds of cases to verdict. Since joining Dysart Taylor in 2000, he has helped clients in the areas of transportation and logistics, products liability, construction and insurance defense.

In his transportation practice, John represents clients in the trucking industry, advising and defending motor carriers, drivers, 3PLs, shippers, manufacturers and governmental entities in wrongful death, serious personal injury and property claims. John is a past president of the Transportation Lawyers Association and served as co-chair of the Missouri Bar Tort & Transportation Law Committee.

In addition to practicing law, John has been heavily involved in firm leadership. He became a director in 2004 and led the firm as managing director from 2012 through 2014. In 2023, he was elected as Dysart Taylor’s president, where he focuses on the long-term direction of the firm.

Prior to joining Dysart Taylor, John served as a prosecutor in Kansas. During that time, he prosecuted a wide array of cases, including state-level felony violent crimes, sex crimes and drug offenses. In addition, he taught criminal procedure at the Police Academy in Lawrence, Kansas.

John is licensed in the state and federal courts in Missouri and Kansas as well as the United States Courts of Appeal for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits.

 

Experience

  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a state transportation department in a personal injury case involving a motorcycle crash.
  • As lead counsel, secured a defense verdict in what is believed to be the first federal jury trial held in Dodge City, Kansas. The plaintiff brought a premise liability case against the client, a large food processor, and claimed damages in excess of $430,000.
  • Successfully defended clients against $8.5 million claim alleging they’d breached their duty of loyalty to a plaintiff trucking company and tortiously interfered with the plaintiff’s business expectancy. The plaintiff also claimed that the defendants should be enjoined from competing with it. The Circuit Court granted motions for summary judgment and to dismiss after discovery.
  • Achieved a significant arbitration victory for a state transportation agency involving an accident between a pickup truck and a motorcycle. The three member arbitration panel found unanimously for the client on all counts.
  • Co-counsel in case in which the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld the District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the client, a major truck box manufacturer.
  • Retained prosecutor in a case in which the defendant was convicted of aggravated arson.
  • Co-counsel and author of prevailing appellate brief in which the Tenth Circuit reversed the District Court’s grant of summary judgment, holding that opposing ERISA plan administrator acted arbitrarily and capriciously in denying benefits.
  • Served as second chair trial counsel for a major interstate trucking company and the family of its driver, in a landmark wrongful death case. A runaway negligent commercial driver and his employer were identified and successfully prosecuted in a civil case through the use of satellite communication records.
  • Lead trial prosecutor for a case in which the defendant was convicted of two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
  • Served as appellate counsel in a case in which the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the defendant’s convictions of first-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery.

Activities

PROFESSIONAL
  • American Arbitration Association
    • National Roster
  • American Bar Association
  • Canadian Transport Lawyer Association
    • Non-Resident Director
  • Conference of Freight Counsel
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Johnson County Bar Association
  • Kansas Bar Association
  • Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
  • Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers
  • The Missouri Bar
    • Tort and Transportation Law Committee
      • Co-Chair, 2018-2020
    • Task Force on the Future of the Profession, Technology Subcommittee, 2016
  • Transportation Lawyers Association
    • Immediate Past President, 2021
    • President, 2020
    • President-Elect, 2019
    • First Vice President, 2018
    • Second Vice President, 2017
    • Secretary/Treasurer, 2016
    • Logistics & e-Commerce Committee, Chair, 2014-2016
    • Executive Committee, Representative-at-Large, 2009-2011
COMMUNITY
  • Neighborhood Justice Center
    • Board of Directors, 2015-present
  • Notre Dame de Sion School of Kansas City
    • Sports Booster Club, Treasurer, 2013-2016
    • Advancement Committee, 2003-2014
    • Annual Auction, Underwriting Chairman, 2002-2008; 2011
    • Annual Fund Chairman for Grade School, 2008-2009
    • Grade School Basketball Coach
  • Rockhurst High School Alumni Association
    • Board of Governors, 2001-2006
  • St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
EDUCATION
  • University of Kansas School of Law, J.D., 1994
  • Missouri State University, B.S., cum laude, 1990
    • Varsity Football
HONORS
  • AV® Preeminent™ rating by Martindale-Hubbell
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2017-present
  • Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, 2014-present
  • Pro Bono Champion, Kansas City Bar Association, October 2022
  • Transportation Lawyers Association Distinguished Service Award, 2018
  • The Missouri Bar Pro Bono Wall of Fame, 2011
  • Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2008
SEMINARS
  • “Knowing Your Adversary: Top-Tier Plaintiff’s Firm or a Copycat?” Facilitator, USLAW NETWORK Transportation Industry Summer Legal Forum, Farmington, Pennsylvania, July 2023
  • “Best Practices for a 30(b)(6) Deposition,” Facilitator, USLAW Fall Client Conference, Austin, TX, September 2022
  • “Corporate Trends Post-COVID-19,” Facilitator, USLAW Fall Client Conference, Colorado Springs, CO, September 2021
  • “The Choice: In Person or Remote Mediations & Arbitrations,” Moderator, Missouri Bar’s Fall Committee Meeting, November 2020
  • “Corporate Representative Witness Development,” 2019 Tort Litigation Workshop, Lee’s Summit, MO, September 2019
  • “Revisiting the Plaintiff’s Playbook,” USLAW NETWORK Spring Client Conference, Nashville, TN, March 2019
  • “Basics of Truck Accident Cases,” Missouri Bar Fall Committee Meetings, Jefferson City, MO, Nov. 16, 2018
  • “The Expanding Survivorship Claim,” USLAW Transportation Law Exchange, Las Vegas, NV, Feb., 2017
  • “Update on the EEOC’s Attack on the Trucking Industry,” Arkansas Trucking Conference, Rogers, AR, Sept. 2015
  • “A Sword or a Shield? How Internal Corporate Policies Can Help or Hurt Transportation Companies in Litigation,” Craig Safety Technologies Webinar, Kansas City, MO, June 2015
  • “How Effective Implementation and Management of Internal Corporate Policies Can Eliminate Claims and Make Lawsuits Defensible,” TLA Annual Conference and CTLA Mid-Year Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ, May 2015
  • “Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t – Conflicts between FMCSR and Employment Law,” TLA Chicago Regional Seminar, Chicago, IL, Jan. 2015
  • “The FMCSA After Anne Ferro: What’s Next?” Inland Distribution Conference, Kansas City, MO, Oct. 2014
  • “Dealing with the Problem Witness, the Hostile Adversary and Overcoming Obstructions, The Basics of Taking and Defending Effective Depositions,” MoBar CLE, Independence, MO, 2014
  • “Basics of Motor Vehicle/Trucking Cases,” Joint Meeting of the Tort and Transportation Law Committees of The Missouri Bar, Jefferson City, MO, May 2013
  • “Document and Data Retention Programs for Transportation Companies,” TLA Annual Conference and CTLA Mid-Year Meeting, Carlsbad, CA, 2009
  • “Bad Faith Issues and Ethical Considerations for the Transportation Attorney,” moderator, TLA Annual Conference and CTLA Mid-Year Meeting, San Antonio, TX, 2007
  • “A Sword or a Shield? How Evolving Technologies in the Transportation Industry Impact the Presentation of Evidence in Transportation Litigation,” moderator, TLA Annual Conference and CTLA Mid-Year Meeting, Lake Buena Vista, FL, 2006
PUBLICATIONS
  • Hilburn v. Enerpipe LTD: Bring on the Non-Economic Damages,” co-author, The Transportation Lawyer, October 2019
  • “Twelve Years and Two Governors Later, the Missouri Legislature Takes a Second Stab at Major Tort Reform,” co-author, The Transportation Lawyer, December 2017
  • USLAW Compendiums of Law – Transportation (Kansas), 2016 – 2018
  • “FMCSA Issues Final Rule Regarding Driver Coercion,” co-author, The Transportation Lawyer, February 2016
  • “FMCSA Rulemaking, Driver Coercion and Respondeat Superior Liability,” The Transportation Lawyer, December 2014
  • “Can You Rely on DTI?,” co-author, In Transit, July 2014
  • “On the Road with the Second Amendment,” co-author, The Transportation Lawyer, July 2013
  • “Court Reform Update – Missouri Passes Major Tort Reform Legislation Which Will Have Dramatic Effects on Trucking Litigation,” co-author, The Transportation Lawyer, July 2005
 

 

700 W. 47 Street, Suite 410
Kansas City, MO 64112

Phone: 816.931.2700
Fax: 816.931.7377

  

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