Bharat Varadachari is being honored for the defense verdict he secured for his clients in September 2024. The Missouri Lawyers Media has ranked this defense verdict as one of the Top Defense Verdicts in 2024. The award will be presented on Feb. 13 at the 2025 Missouri Lawyers Award luncheon. This year the annual banquet is being held at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.

The case involved a pedestrian who had sued St. Louis University and Spectra (the arena operator) after being hit in a crosswalk on her way to a men’s basketball game. The jury agreed with Varadachari’s defense that the University and Spectra could not be held liable for the dangerous actions of the driver who struck plaintiff. (The driver had passed another vehicle in the middle of the intersection in between two crosswalks.) Plaintiff had asked for $27.5 million, but the St. Louis City jury returned a defense verdict in less than one hour.

Varadachari, a partner in the firm’s St. Louis office, focuses on defending personal injury, insurance, and premises liability matters. He is rated an AV Preeminent Attorney by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named to the lists of Best Lawyers in America and Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers. His professional associations include selection for membership in the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates and Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, as well as being Past President of both the Lawyers Association of St. Louis and the St. Louis County Bar Association.