Paul Larimore is an AV® rated litigator and legal manager with 30+ years of experience. He specializes in defending employers and insurers in Missouri Workers' Compensation matters.  Paul's extensive background includes multiple professional perspectives, including developing a successful insurance defense trial practice and working in-house with large and small insurers. He managed staff counsel operations for national insurance carriers  CNA and AIG.  In addition, Paul was Director of Legal Services at Missouri Employers Mutual, where he was responsible for all in-house legal operations, including management of the firm’s in-house attorneys and outside counsel. Paul began his career in private practice, where he spent 15 years defending employers and insurers in all aspects of litigation including depositions, mediations, trials and appeals. As a partner he participated in leadership of a large regional law firm, while managing a profitable practice unit for which he was solely responsible.Paul's experience also includes serving as Audit Attorney at Sentry Insurance, where his efforts included innovative updates to the company’s legal auditing procedures and litigation management guidelines in addition to the development and presentation of training modules for the claims staff. In addition, Paul was a Program Director for Stuart Maue, a litigation management consultancy, where he worked to develop litigation and expense management solutions for corporate and insurance clients, and also assisted with the firm’s marketing and brand management initiatives

Director of Litigation American National Property and Casualty Company

Paula began her career with American National Property and Casualty Company in 1982, she has handled all aspects of claims in the Property and Casualty field for personal lines. In 1988 Paula began handling Litigation file assignments and in 1999 began managing the Litigation Department. In 2003 she was promoted to her current position, Director of Litigation.

Paula is responsible for litigation management in 43 states. She has handled catastrophic claims and Class Action Litigation.

As the company expanded Paula’s role included litigation management of Commercial, Construction Defect and Agriculture Litigation.

Paula is the mother of four sons and six grandchildren.

John Muir is an Associate and managing partner of Ringler Associates Illinois and Missouri. He specializes in settling worker’s compensation and personal injury cases.  He has specific expertise in funding workers’ compensation matters including Permanent Total Disability, Wage Differential and Death cases. Additionally, he is an expert in funding and Medicare Set-Aside Arrangements, Life Care Plans and Special Needs Trusts. John joined Ringler Associates in 2004 and has 32 years of experience in the industry. He provides assistance and expertise to clients at mediations and settlement conferences. He also provides educational seminars on the use of settlement annuities and funding Medicare Set- Aside Arrangements in tort and workers’ compensation cases. Specialization: Workers’ Compensation, Personal Injury, Liability Transfer, Medical Malpractice, Automobile, Construction Defect Claims, and Products Liability Claims. Education: Graduate of Executive Program, University of Michigan; Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation; Casualty Claim Law Associate Designation; B.A., Accounting, Illinois Wesleyan University. Memberships/Affiliations: National Structured Settlements Trade Association (NSSTA), Workers’ Compensation Claims Association of Illinois (Past President), Work Comp Advisor (editorial staff), Trainer Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. Additional History: Houston General Casualty, 1978; Commercial Union Assurance, 1979; State Farm 1984. Judicial Training John provided judicial training for the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Commissioners, Arbitrators and Staff Attorneys.

John M. Muir, Jr. joined Ringler full-time in 2013. He provides expertise to clients regarding financial security and investment. He attends mediations and settlement conferences for his clients. He has provided judicial training for the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Commissioners, Arbitrators and Staff Attorneys and presented structured settlement CLE & CE programs for professionals in the industry.
John M. Muir, Jr. is an attorney licensed in Illinois and a Structured Settlement Consultant for Ringler Associates covering Eastern Missouri including Greater St. Louis and Southern Illinois. He specializes in Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation cases and has expertise regarding both Liability and Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Asides. John received his Juris Doctorate from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois, where he achieved the CALI award for Workers’ Compensation. Additionally, he received high marks during a semester he spent at the University Of Illinois College Of Law. John has worked for the McLean County and Peoria County Public Defender, and currently works on a pro bono basis for those in need.
Specialization
 

• Workers’ Compensation
• Tort Cases
• Medicare Set-Aside Arrangements
• Construction Defects
• Medical Malpractice

Memberships/Affiliations
 

• Bar Association of Metropolitan Saint Louis
• Various County Bar Associations: McLean, Peoria, Champaign, Madison, and St. Claire counties
• Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (MATA)
• Greater Saint Louis Claims Association

Judicial Training
John lectured Arbitrators, Commissioners, and Staff Attorneys at a judicial training seminar for the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.
John on Ringler Radio
Litigation Surrounding Driver Fatigue

Practice Description:Ms. Schmidt focuses her practice in the toxic tort area including products and premises liability asbestos lawsuits.

Ms. Schmidt has over 25 years experience in defense litigation and has tried numerous civil jury and nonjury cases in state courts in Illinois and Missouri. She has also appeared and argued cases before State appellate courts in Illinois and Missouri.

Bar Admissions: IllinoisMissouriUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

Date of Birth:March 2, 1954

Law School:Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri in 1984

Undergraduate School:University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1976 - B.S. in Business Administration, cum laude

Bar/Professional Association Involvement:Illinois State Bar AssociationMissouri Bar AssociationIllinois Association of Defense Trial CounselCo-Chairman for the Products Liability CommitteeMadison County Bar AssociationMissouri Organization of Defense Lawyers

Published Writing:Monograph, "Federal Preemption Defenses in Product Liability Suits: A Continuing Evaluation," (Co-Author) IDC Quarterly, First Quarter, 2011, Volume 21, Number 1.

Legal Lectures:Speaker Harris Martin Midwest Asbestos Conference 2009, 2010

Speaker at 2008 RIMS Conference

BiographyBob Tucker is a partner in the Goffstein-Raskas law firm, a 14 attorney defense-oriented trial, appellate and general civil practice. A former Missouri Supreme Court law clerk and past president of the St. Louis Lawyers Association, Bob has 30 years of trial experience in defending many types of professional, auto, products, premises and commerial liability cases in federal and state jurisdictions across Missouri and southern Illinois.Litigation Practice Areas:Premises LiabilityProducts LiabilityPersonal InjuryCommercial LitigationProfessional LiabilityAppellateConstruction/Real EstateEducation:St. Louis University School of Law, J.D. 1985University of Missouri Bachelor of Journalism 1975University of Kentucky, 2 years of undergraduateLicensure & Associations:United States District Courts for Eastern and Western Districts of MissouriMissouri Bar AssociationIllinois Bar AssociationFlorida Bar AssociationLawyers Association of St. Louis(President 2005-2006)Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers