Bob Langdon Named “Legal Champion” in Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s Annual Lawyer of the Year Awards - 2011-01-03

The legal publication Missouri Lawyers Weekly this week announced its winners for their annual “Missouri Lawyers Awards,” and Bob Langdon has been included among the top award recipients.  Bob was named to the “Legal Champions” category for 2010, which goes to “plaintiffs or defense lawyers, not based on the size of verdicts but the importance of the principle or policy at stake.”

Bob’s selection was due in large part to his role as lead attorney in a California trial against Ford Motor Company this summer.  In that case, a jury verdict awarded $23.4 million after Bob and his legal team presented evidence of 26 similar occurrences where high-level management at Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., were aware of wrecks caused by hidden handling defects.  He was able to evince that Ford spent $3.5 million correcting the defect in Venezuela, but chose to ignore the fix recommended by its own engineers and not to spend the $500 million needed to fix the Explorers in North America.  

In February, Bob was lead attorney in a trial that yielded an $8 million verdict against Johnson Controls Incorporated, in the Circuit Court for Platte County, Mo.  When the jury came back with its verdict in Aaliyah George v. Johnson Controls, Inc., their award was the county’s largest ever to that point.  2-year old Aaliyah had suffered multiple skull fractures and a massive injury to her left frontal lobe during a collision in which her grandmother’s seat broke and collapsed backwards on top of her.  These injuries caused permanent physical and mental disabilities to the girl.   

Finally, Bob’s recognition was also bolstered by his service to the local community.  At the beginning of the year the doors opened on the CCC, a Wellington, Mo., community center to whom he gave three buildings.  The proceeds from the donated real estate support CCC programming for the Lafayette County community. 

About Langdon & Emison:  From Missouri offices in Lexington, N. Kansas City, and St. Louis, Langdon & Emison represents clients from coast to coast in the areas of product liability and personal injury law.  The expertise of the firm’s attorneys and its unparalleled network of experts and litigation support resources have been nationally recognized.  Favorable verdicts are regularly obtained in complex personal injury litigation such as wrongful death and transportation liability, including car-truck collisions, train accidents, and more. As a result of the litigation handled by Langdon & Emison, several defective products and practices dangerous to the American consumer have been changed or abandoned altogether.