Brian W. Fields

Brian has over 25 years of experience handling complex litigation and arbitrations involving business tort and contract claims, commercial construction, freight and transportation, covenants not to compete, intellectual property, patent and copyright infringement, insurance recovery and coverage, architect and engineer liability, products liability, and cases involving cryptocurrency assets. Brian has extensive experience with advising his clients on virtually every aspect of commercial construction projects. He is a member of the Missouri and Kansas bars.

Brian serves as lead outside general counsel to several companies, including a renowned architecture firm, freight transportation companies, and a leading cookware manufacturer. He provides his clients with practical legal and business advice, litigation avoidance strategies, contract negotiations, insurance and risk management services, and general employment advice. His success has been attributed to his skill in simplifying complex issues into clear, logical arguments.

Brian has represented clients in dozens of federal and state courts throughout the country, and in numerous domestic and international arbitrations. He has been involved in several jury trials and first-chaired multiple bench trials and large-scale commercial arbitrations. He has taken hundreds of depositions and retained experts in multiple disciplines, including construction, engineering (electrical, mechanical, materials), medical, economic, accounting, and fire science. He has successfully argued dozens of dispositive motions and prepared and argued winning appellate briefs to the Kansas Court of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth and Fifth Circuits, the Missouri Supreme Court and the Illinois Court of Appeals.

Brian has served on the firm's Partnership Admission Committee and was a co-leader of the Construction & Design practice group for several years. He has represented numerous pro bono clients through the Volunteer Attorney Project of Kansas City since 1996.

• Speaker, “Cryptocurrency: What You Should Know and Why it Matters,” 2019 State of Litigation, June 6, 2019
• Speaker, Regulation of Crypto, Tokens & Initial Coin Offerings, Kansas City Techweek, October 9, 2018
• Speaker, Statutory Consumer Protection Actions in Missouri and Kansas, at KCMBA, June 7, 2017

• Co-Author, Cryptocurrency 101, Lathrop Gage Legal Alert, April 9, 2018
• Author, Missouri and Kansas Consumer Protection Acts, KCMBA Business Litigation Handbook (3d ed.), June 2017
• Author, Twombly’s Plausibility Standard in Product Liability Cases, Law Journal Newsletters, Product Liability Law & Strategy, June 2009 
• Author, Tendering Claims to Manufacturers & Suppliers, Law Journal Newsletters, Product Liability Law & Strategy, April 2007
• Author, Expert Testimony in Products Litigation, Defense Research Institute, For the Defense, 2003 
• Author, Employer Should Learn Law to Guard Trade Secrets, Kansas City Business Journal, Oct. 22-28, 1999
• Author, Attorney-Client & Work Product Privileges Waived When Witnesses Refresh Memory, 63 UMKC L. Rev. 309, 1994

• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association

• Volunteer Attorney Project of Kansas City

• "Partner of the Year," Tallgrass Freight, 2023