Verified profile

Megan S. Heinsz

Partner at Dowd Bennett LLP

Megan S. Heinsz's profile photo
LocationSt. LouisMissouri, United States
Current rolePartnerDowd Bennett LLP · since Feb 2007

About

A founding member of Dowd Bennett LLP, Megan Heinsz represents and defends corporate and individual clients at the state, federal, district and appellate levels, and in arbitration.

With a national practice that takes her to courtrooms throughout the United States, Megan defends multinational corporations in allegations ranging from exposure to hazardous toxins and trade secret violations, to gender discrimination and FCA violations. Her corporate clients include global entities in the oil and gas, beverage, electric power and healthcare industries.

Megan appears regularly in federal district courts in Missouri, Massachusetts, Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Georgia, as well as multiple state courts.

In 2015, Megan assisted Jim Bennett, Ed Dowd and co-counsel in attaining the largest reported verdict in the history of the St. Louis County Circuit Court. The jury ordered Wells Fargo to repay $45.7 million to the Barbara Burton Morriss Revocable Trust and pay Mrs. Morriss $32.1 million in punitive damages.

Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Megan was an associate in the litigation department at Bryan Cave LLP.

Roles

Feb 2007–Present
Current role

Partner

Dowd Bennett LLP

St. Louis, Missouri

AttorneyAttorney AdvisorLegalCorporate Law
Feb 2006–Dec 2006
Former role

Associate

Bryan Cave LLP

Civil LitigationLitigation Support SpecialistLegalAppellate Litigation

Litigation department.

Jun 2005–Jul 2005
Former role

Law Clerk

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District

(appointed)Missouri

Law ClerkResearchLegalLegal Clerk

Served as law clerk to the Honorable Patricia Breckenridge, researching and drafting opinions, orders, and bench memoranda.

Jun 2004–Aug 2004
Former role

Law Clerk

U.S. District Court

(appointed)Missouri Eastern District

Law ClerkResearchLegalLegal Clerk

Served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Richard Webber, researching and drafting opinions, orders, and bench memoranda.

Representative matters

Experience

August 2025

Assisted Jim Bennett, Ed Dowd and co-counsel in May 2015, in attaining the largest reported verdict in the history of St. Louis County Circuit Court. The jury ordered Wells Fargo to repay the Barbara Burton Morriss Revocable Trust $45,766,033.81, and to pay Mrs. Morriss $32,100,000.00 in punitive damages. Megan and the Dowd Bennett trial team were victorious in the three-week jury trial, Katz v. Anheuser-Busch. A Galveston County, Texas jury returned a unanimous verdict on December 11, 2014 for Dowd Bennett’s fuel producing client. In December 2012, Ms. Heinsz played a role in successfully trying to jury the case of Automation Service v. Emerson Process Management and Fisher Controls. August of 2012, Ms. Heinsz participated in the case of Fresenius Medical Care v. United States of America, which was tried to a jury in the District of Massachusetts (Boston), and resulted in a $95 million tax benefit for her client. In U.S. ex rel. Gonzalez v. Fresenius Medical Care et al., Ms. Heinsz aided in trying to a successful jury verdict a seven-count False Claims Act case in a month-long trial in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Megan also served as part of the trial team of Bi-State v. Cross Country Collaborative, where she contributed to all aspects of the trial, including the preparation of and cross-examination of witnesses, opening statement and closing argument. Prior to that, she has acted as second-chair trial counsel in two other successful jury trials in federal court, Creative Management Services, Inc. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Brent v. Redfearn.

Recognition

Honors

Missouri Super Lawyer

Super Lawyers

February 2016

Plaintiffs Attorneys with Largest Reported Verdict/Judgment

Missouri Lawyers Weekly

February 2016

Attorneys Securing Largest Reported Defense Verdict/Judgment

Missouri Lawyers Weekly

February 2015

Up & Coming

Missouri Lawyers Weekly

February 2013

Largest Defense Verdict

Missouri Lawyers Weekly

February 2013