Jeffrey C. Klaus is an up and coming litigation focused associate. Jeff has been involved in the defense of a broad range of cases, but typically his efforts focus on premises liability, products liability, construction law, and related business litigation. Jeff’s experience does not end at the securing of a judgment either; he has significant experience in collecting on judgments resulting from counterclaims as well. Jeff is licensed to practice in the state courts of Missouri and Illinois, along with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

Jeff earned his law degree here in Saint Louis from Saint Louis University School of Law where he graduated magna cum laude. During law school Jeff served as Lead Executive Editor for the St. Louis Public Law Review, and was selected to be a member of Saint Louis University’s National Moot Court Team. While participating in moot court Jeff earned honors for the being the Best Individual Oralist at the Annual Robert Dowd Moot Court Competition, and Jeff also co-authored the Best Regional Brief in the National Moot Competition. Further, Jeff served as a teacher’s assistant helping others hone their appellate research, writing, and argument skills. Aside from moot court and journal activities, Jeff also earned Academic Excellence Awards for receiving the highest grade in his Torts and Criminal Procedure—Investigations courses.

Prior to law school Jeff completed his undergraduate bachelor’s degree at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Although Jeff’s degree is in political science, he also has several years of engineering study under his belt.  Jeff has found this technical experience to be quite helpful in products liability and construction cases. Too often cases can be under or overvalued because clients, counsel, and jurors lack the technical knowledge or experience to put an expert’s opinion into proper perspective.

Examples of Jeff’s work can be seen in Henson v. Cheddar’s Casual Café, 3:14-cv-01249-JPG-PMF and Williams v. Hampton Restaurant Corporation, et al., 1622-CC05271.  In the former, the plaintiff sought just under a half million dollars for a slip and fall allegedly occurring on Cheddar’s property. Jeff was involved in working up the file and served as second chair at trial where Lashly & Baer attorney John S. McCollough secured a defense verdict on behalf of Cheddar’s Casual Café.  In the latter, Jeff secured a defense verdict for Hampton Restaurant Corporation as lead counsel in a dram shop case where the plaintiff alleged the defendant driver and Hampton were responsible for the plaintiff’s traumatic brain injury.

Jeff has earned distinguished awards based on his work in and out of the courtroom. Jeff has been honored as a Rising Star by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, each year since 2017. The Rising Star award recognizes only 2.5 percent of top attorneys.  He has also been selected to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in its inaugural 2021 Edition and again in 2022.  Most recently, Jeff was honored by Missouri Lawyers Media as an Up & Coming Attorney.