J. ERIC WESLANDER

ABOUT ERIC

Eric Weslander is a litigator and former journalist who has used his investigative and storytelling skills to advocate for clients in a variety of lawsuits involving personal injury/tort, business disputes, media law, and governmental regulation. Using detailed legal and factual analysis, Eric seeks to find both creative and common-sense solutions to clients’ legal problems.

His experience includes:

• Representing journalists, news organizations, and publishers in state and federal court against claims for defamation/libel;
• Representing junior-high and high-school students in § 1983 lawsuit alleging violation of their First Amendment rights by school district (co-counsel with ACLU of Kansas);
• Pursuing claims for fraud and violation of consumer-protection statutes on behalf of businesses and individuals that have been victimized by scams;
• Defending personal-injury actions, including defending a major hotel company and its shuttle driver against a spinal-injury lawsuit brought by a celebrity plaintiff (resulting in complete defense verdict in Jackson County, Missouri, state court);
• Defending global vehicle-component manufacturer against numerous claims for breach of warranty, breach of contract, or alleged violation of consumer-protection statutes; and
• Representing a hospital system in a lawsuit brought against a privatized-Medicaid insurer, seeking more than $1 million in unpaid claims, interest, and penalties pursuant to state “prompt pay” statutes. 

Eric has also represented numerous Potentially Responsible Parties in complex litigation and negotiations pursuant to CERCLA, the Superfund Law, and has helped clients recover millions of dollars in insurance proceeds to recover environmental-remediation costs or related losses.

Prior to joining Stevens & Brand, Eric practiced law for nearly seven years with Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, and worked as a law clerk for the Hon. John W. Lungstrum of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. As a full-time news journalist from 1999 to 2007, he reported on subjects including courts and public safety, higher education and politics in Louisville, Kentucky; Tucson, Arizona; and Lawrence, Kansas; and was named the top beat writer in Arizona in 2001 by the Arizona Press Club. A proud 1999 graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications at Kansas University, Eric has taught Mass Media Law as an adjunct instructor in Washburn University’s mass-media program and is co-chair of the “Media & the Law” seminar planning committee sponsored by the University of Kansas School of Law and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.

Eric has lived in Lawrence continuously since 2002 with his wife and two children. Outside of practicing law, he enjoys following the news, playing and watching basketball, practicing yoga, playing stringed instruments, and cooking.

AFFILIATIONS, ACTIVITIES AND HONORS