Ted Perryman

For over 35 years the mainstay of his practice is the trial of trucking, personal injury, and insurance cases.  In 2017 and 2020 he was named “Lawyer of the Year” in St. Louis for personal injury defense, mass torts and class actions by Best Lawyers.  He is listed in Martindale Hubbell as AV Preeminent by lawyers and judges.

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 has served 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. Presently, he serves on the Safety, Insurance Task Force, Communications & Image Policy, Small Carrier, and Independent Contractor Policy Committees of the ATA.  In 2014 he was awarded the G. Findley Reed Award by the Missouri Trucking Association for his service to the trucking industry. 

He is a frequent speaker for the Illinois Trucking Association, Missouri Trucking Association, TCA, ATA Litigation Forum, Machinery Haulers Association, and National Tank Truck Carriers.  

Through Ted’s role in the Missouri and Illinois Trucking Associations he has been on several trips with fellow members making calls on Congress to advocate on behalf of truckers. As a trial lawyer on behalf of motor carriers, he has taken over 120 personal injury cases to verdict, many of which involved serious trucking accidents.

Ted represents both trucking companies and their insurance carriers.  He 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 that resulted in a defense verdict after a six-month trial where several claimants alleged numerous health problems due to dioxin exposure at Times Beach, MO. 

Ted is a member of 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 currently serves as the Committee Chair for the Transportation Committee of Primerus, a society of the world’s finest independent boutique law firms.

For more information, please call 314-421-1850 or email tperryman@robertsperryman.com