Kristine Gerhard Baker
Partner

Complex Business Litigation, Employment Litigation, Securities Litigation, Products Liability Litigation, First Amendment, Media Law

Ms. Baker’s practice consists of a wide variety of business-related matters resolved through litigation, arbitration, and mediation.

Her jury trial experience includes the representation of insurance companies in disputes regarding coverage and suicide exclusion clauses, automobile manufacturers in products liability and alleged defective airbag cases, companies in cases alleging negligence and product shifts in 18-wheelers resulting in fatal accidents, and manufacturers in cases alleging personal injury and property damage resulting from purported defective and toxic chemicals used in treating processes, and manufacturers in cases alleging personal injury resulting from purported defective welding products.

In addition to her jury trial experience, Ms. Baker has served as counsel in a variety of arbitrated matters, including construction disputes and disputes regarding franchise agreements, covenants not to compete, and employment agreements. Ms. Baker frequently represents customers, individual brokers, and brokerage firms in customer complaints, broker-dealer disputes, and raiding claims before the National Association of Securities Dealers Dispute Resolution, Inc.

Ms. Baker also regularly represents employers in discrimination and wrongful-termination cases pending in both state and federal court. Ms. Baker represents employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, and United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Ms. Baker also has experience mediating cases before private mediators and court-sponsored mediators in the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas. Ms. Baker has mediated several employment disputes, contract cases, and disputes arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Ms. Baker has spoken to groups of attorneys and members of the business community regarding personnel and employment law issues. Ms. Baker also has addressed paralegals regarding advanced litigation skills and legal writing. She is a contributing author to The Guide to Arkansas Statutes of Limitations (4th ed.), Young Lawyers Section, Arkansas Bar Association, 2002.

Ms. Baker is a member of the 1989 Charter Class of the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois. Ms. Baker attended Saint Louis University as a Presidential Scholar, receiving a full tuition academic scholarship, and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She attended Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1993 to 1994 as an Olin Fellow, receiving a full tuition academic scholarship. In 1994, Ms. Baker transferred to the University of Arkansas and completed her legal studies there. At the University of Arkansas, Ms. Baker was an Articles Editor for the Arkansas Law Review, a member of the Board of Advocates, and a member of the University of Arkansas’ First Amendment National Moot Court Team.

After graduating from the University of Arkansas, Ms. Baker served as a law clerk to the Honorable Susan Webber Wright, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, from 1996 to 1998. Ms. Baker is licensed to practice in the State of Arkansas, the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Education
University of Arkansas School of Law (J.D., with high honors, 1996)

Washington University School of Law (1993-1994)

Saint Louis University (B.A., English and American Studies, summa cum laude, 1993).

Associations and Affiliations
Former member, Federal Practice Committee, Eastern District of Arkansas; Member, Attorney Disciplinary Committee, Eastern District of Arkansas; Member and Contributing Member of Communications Committee, Bar Association of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; Member, William R. Overton Inn of Court; Member, American Bar Association, Arkansas Bar Association, and Pulaski County Bar Association

Publication
BB&B Construction Co. v. F.D.I.C. Mechanics’ and Materialmen’s Liens in Arkansas : Priority as a Function of Removability, 48 Ark. L. Rev. 783 (1995).

Charitable Organizations
Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church, Social Concerns Committee Chair, Parish Council Member; Thomas More Society, Member; Tree Streets, Inc., Member; Saint Louis University, Alumna Recruiter in Arkansas

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