Natalie Kussart is Chair of the firm’s Class Action Team for the Business Litigation and Products Liability practice groups. She has been repeatedly named as a Rising Star by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, which is an honor given to no more than 2.5% of all attorneys in the state.
Working with the Business Litigation and Products Liability practice groups at Sandberg Phoenix for almost 20 years, Natalie has experience in class actions, commercial litigation, trust litigation, personal injury and tort defense, and product and toxic tort liability. Throughout her career, she has represented insurance companies, restaurants, trucking and bus companies, hospitals, physicians, banks, mortgage providers, and manufacturers of automobiles, consumer products, heavy machinery, medical devices, recreational products and drugs/pharmaceuticals.
Sharing Sandberg Phoenix’s focus on superior client service, Natalie prides herself on responding to client inquiries quickly and achieving the best possible result for her clients. She is committed to defending her clients effectively and efficiently.
Outside of her legal practice, Natalie enjoys spending time with her family (including four daughters), taking family walks with her dogs, reading, watching movies, and traveling to warm destinations.
Successfully settled a claim for an insurance company for alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
Won a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction for a individual in a case alleging fraud and conspiracy that was pending in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Missouri
Assisted in successfully settling several large Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) class action cases in Illinois involving fast food restaurants
Assisted in successfully settling a Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) class action case involving a temporary employment agency
Successfully settled a food labeling class action case, on behalf of a frozen pizza manufacturer, alleging violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA) that was pending in the Circuit Court of St. Louis City, Missouri.
Won a Motion to Dismiss for lack of standing on behalf of a distributor in an antitrust class action case filed in the United States District Court of the Southern District of Illinois
Won summary judgment for her clients in an anti-trust class action case against tax sale companies that was pending in the United States District Court of the Southern District of Illinois
Successfully settled a class action case in Missouri for a human resource company involving alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
Assisted in defeating plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in an anti-trust class action case against tax sale companies that was pending in the United States District Court of the Southern District of Illinois
Successfully negotiated a settlement for a car dealership in a class action case involving the titling of vehicles and alleged violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA)
Successfully settled a food labeling class action case for a barbeque sauce company that was pending in the Circuit Court of St. Louis City, Missouri regarding the “natural” label on the product
Successfully negotiated a settlement in a class action case in Missouri for a manufacturer involving a cleaning product
Successfully negotiated a settlement in a class action case for an emergency transport service that was pending in federal court in Arkansas concerning alleged violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) for balance billing
Successfully settled a class action case pending in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri involving alleged violations of the Landlord-Tenant Act and Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA)
Assisted as local counsel in obtaining preliminary and final approval of a class action settlement for a weight loss company involving alleged violations of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
Assisted in partially decertifying an anti-trust class in the Circuit Court of Madison County, Illinois
Won a motion to dismiss in a class action case that was pending in the Western District of Missouri, in which plaintiff was alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. 1983 and the Religious Land Use Institutionalized Persons Act
Successfully defended companion putative class actions in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri on behalf of a national mortgage lender and servicer. The litigations involved alleged violations of the Missouri Second Mortgage statute, including primary claims that arose under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. In both cases, dismissal/summary judgment was obtained on the client’s behalf based primarily on statute of limitations grounds. The dismissal was affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and was final when a Petition for Writ of Certiorari was recently denied by the United States Supreme Court.
Tuttle v. STERIS Corp. Won summary judgment for her client in a contentious products liability case
Burbridge v. Harsco Corporation, et al. Assisted in trying and winning a defense verdict in a case involving a train conductor alleging permanent eye injuries from shattered glass from a train accident
Former Class Action Chair for DRI (The Voice of the Defense Bar)
American Bar Association
ABA’s Class Actions & Derivative Suits Group
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
Missouri Bar Association
Missouri Trucking Association
Chair of Sandberg Phoenix’s Class Action Team
J.D., Southern Illinois University School of Law, summa cum laude (graduating 2nd in her class)
M.A., Illinois State University
B.A., Millikin University, summa cum laude
Illinois
Missouri
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
“Admissibility of Toxicology Reports to Establish Blood Alcohol Concentration,” DRI The Voice, Volume 16 Issue 13 (April 5, 2017)
”Driving Logs: Can Deficiencies Expose Motor Carriers and Their Drivers to Criminal and Civil Liability?” IADC Transportation Law Committee Newsletter (March 2013)
“Reporting Medical Errors: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” 31 SIU L. J. 385 (2007)
“Learning communities in the basic communication course: Exploring students’ perception of power and use of compliance-gaining strategies,” Basic Communication Course Annual, 19, 72-103 (2007)
“Paid Bills v. Charged Bills: Insurance and the Collateral Source Rule,” 31 SIU L. J. 151 (2006)