David H. Luce

Experience at Work

Dave has extensive experience—in the boardroom and the courtroom. With a background of being in-house counsel and in private practice, he brings over 35 years of diverse experience to managing and resolving a wide range of legal challenges for his clients. Dave advises individuals and organizational clients to achieve the best possible result through negotiation, mediation, arbitration or trial. He focuses on strategies to evaluate and manage commercial and legal risks. Dave has tried numerous jury trials to successful verdicts and handled many bench trials, arbitrations and mediations. In addition to the private practice of law, Dave was in-house counsel at Koch Industries, Inc., the nation’s largest privately-held corporation, and at Trans World Airlines. Dave applies his decades of experience by providing comprehensive guidance and counseling to individual and corporate clients on a broad-spectrum of legal subject areas. Dave is also experienced in alternative dispute resolution, including mediating cases in Missouri State and Federal Courts. Dave is an approved neutral in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

In the Community

Dave and his wife, Debi, mediate disputes on a daily basis between their pit bull and cocker spaniel.  Dave is an avid golfer and enjoys cooking and rooting for his Kansas Jayhawks.

Awards & Recognition

Awards

• Super Lawyers^® | Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers List, Super Lawyer, (2011 – 2012, 2014, 2017 – 2019)
• The Best Lawyers in America^® | Employment Law/Management, St. Louis (2018 – Present)

Recognitions

• University of Kansas Law School | Order of the Coif (1986)

Appointments

• Supreme Court of Missouri | Regional Disciplinary Committee | Member (2010 – 2018)

Education

Educational Background

• J.D., University of Kansas School of Law (1986)
• B.S., English, The Ohio State University (1983)

Significant Experience

Representations

• Obtaining an $11.1 million jury verdict in favor of a Missouri manufacturer against its insurance carrier.
• Obtaining a defense jury verdict in a race discrimination case in Missouri state court.
• Obtaining a defense jury verdict in a business tort case where the plaintiff sought over $2 million.
• Obtaining a jury verdict in favor of an executive who was sued for violating a non-compete agreement.

Published Decisions

• Affirming summary judgment for employer on reverse discrimination claim. [Nancy Woods v. City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney, 857 Fed.Appx. 879; 2021 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 320,281 (8^th Circuit Court of Appeals, 2021)]
• Affirming grant of summary judgment to client in labor and employment case. [Smith v. American Airlines, 414 F.3d 949 (8^th Cir. 2005)]
• Affirming jury verdict in favor of client in commercial/real estate dispute. [River City Development Associates LLC v. Accurate Disbursing Co., LLC, 345 S.W.3d 867 (Mo. App. 2011)]
• Upholding clients’ position on state Sunshine Law or FOIA requests. [State ex rel. Daly v. Information Technology Services of the City of St. Louis, 417 S.W.3d 804 (Mo. App. 2013)]
• Affirming grant of summary judgment to client on claims that provisions of City Charter was unconstitutional. [Nuener v. City of St. Louis, 537 S.W.3d 750 (Mo. App. 2017)]

Admissions & Qualifications

Bar & Court Admissions

• Missouri
• U.S. District Courts
  • Eastern District of Missouri
  • Western District of Missouri
• U.S. Courts of Appeals
  • Eighth Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court