Leadership

Committee Member of Transportation Practice Group

Ted Perryman is the Chairman of Roberts Perryman P.C. and is widely regarded as one of Missouri’s preeminent trial lawyers. He has been named one of Missouri’s Best Lawyers and is recognized by his peers as a Super Lawyer. For over 30 years the mainstay of his practice is the trial of personal injury and insurance cases.

Ted is perhaps best known for his role as a leading advocate and defense attorney for the trucking industry. Not only does he represent trucking companies and their drivers, he is a driver himself. He actively holds a Class A license to operate tractor-trailers in the State of Missouri (CDL). Ted serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Missouri Trucking Association and is active in various committees of the American Trucking Association and the Illinois Trucking Association. Recently, Ted joined several members of the Missouri Trucking Association and made calls on Congress to advocate on behalf of truckers. As a trial lawyer on behalf of motor carriers, he has taken over 100 personal injury cases to verdict, many of which involved serious trucking accidents. 

Ted’s trial practice also includes defending insurance companies. During the past few years his primary focus has been complex coverage litigation. Recent cases include the successful defense of a “pollution exclusion” avoiding a multi-million dollar asbestos claim and a favorable settlement on a contested construction defect coverage dispute. Ted counsels his insurance clients regarding the avoidance of extra-contractual liability (bad faith) which is prevalent in the “judicial hellholes” in which he regularly practices. 

Ted made his mark in Missouri as a trial lawyer in the area of toxic tort litigation. He successfully defended Northeastern Pharmaceutical Company which resulted in a defense verdict after a six month trial where the several claimants alleged numerous health problems due to dioxin exposure. He recently obtained a very favorable settlement for his client where hundreds of claimants alleged lead poisoning from a local lead smelter. He has been an active participant in the defense of asbestos claims in both Madison and St. Clair Counties.

Ted is a member to many prestigious trial organizations such as the Council on Litigation Management, Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, International Association of Defense Counsel and the Trucking Industry Defense Association. He regularly gives presentations to the trucking and insurance industries on reducing exposure and evaluating claims. In 2010 Ted was appointed to the Board of the Missouri Trucking Association.

Practice Areas:

  • Insurance Defense
  • Toxic Torts
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Workers' Compensation and Employment 
  • Trucking and Transportation

Education:

  • Indiana University, A.B. 1974 (with honors in Sociology)
  • St. Louis University, J.D. 1977

Bar Admissions:

  • Missouri, 1977
  • Illinois, 1978
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 7th, 8th and 11th
  • U.S. District Court
  • Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri
  • Northern, Central and Southern Districts of Illinois

Memberships:

  • Mediator, affiliated with USA&M
  • Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC)
  • Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers
  • Trucking Industry Defense Association
  • Counsel on Litigation Management
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Missouri Trucking Association
  • Board Member Missouri Trucking Association
  • Illinois Trucking Association
  • American Trucking Association
  • International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
  • Transportation Lawyers' Association
  • St. Clair County Bar Association
  • East St. Louis Bar Association
  • Illinois Bar Association
  • Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Bar Association
  • Southern Illinois Federal Bar Association
  • Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
  • Lawyer's Association of St. Louis
  • Missouri Bar
  • Missouri Bar Transportation Committee
  • Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA)
  • National Industrial Transportation League
  • MCAA

Born:

  • Vincennes, Indiana; October 14, 1952

Publications:

  • Missouri Reference Guide for Trucking Claims
  • Illinois Reference Guide for Trucking Claims
  • Cargo Claims under the Carmack Amendment

Awards and Recognitions:

  • Best Lawyers 2009 - 2014
  • Super Lawyers 2009 - 2014

Events and Speaking Engagements:

  • Trucking Leadership Symposium 
  • Missouri Trucking Spring Safety Conference 
  • Annual Safety Seminar, Missouri Trucking Association 
  • ATA Management and Exhibition