Eric Turner

Eric Turner is special counsel with Foulston’s litigation and employment practice group in the firm’s Kansas City office. Prior to joining Foulston, Eric spent 16 years as a journalist for Kansas newspapers – a career that built and honed the research skills, accuracy, speed, and writing abilities that now serve him and his clients so well as an attorney. A career path tailor-made for litigation took Eric from Washburn Law School into five years of clerking for three different state and federal judges at the trial and appellate levels. There, his experience behind the scenes gave him an inside view of how various judges evaluate information, make decisions, and run a courtroom. In his clerkships, Eric saw more trials in different courts than some litigators with many more years in practice. His experience included cases related to age discrimination, contract disputes, tax evasion, criminal matters, the interplay between federal and state law, and Social Security disability appeals.

At Foulston, Eric’s practice focuses primarily in three areas: employment and litigation, governmental liability, and commercial litigation and disputes. In early 2019, Eric was an active member of the Foulston trial team in a federal jury trial, in which the jury awarded Foulston’s client a $12.6 million verdict. Another large case Eric played a key role in involved age discrimination defense for a governmental entity. He is a frequent author and contributor to publications, including three years as co-author of the civil procedure chapter in the Kansas Bar Association’s Annual Survey of the Law. As the co-chair of the Kansas Association of Defense Counsel amicus committee, Eric also writes for the KADC’s Kansas Defense Journal. Eric has also presented on employment issues and mentored law students through Washburn Law School and the Federal Bar Association.

Education

• Washburn University (J.D., 2011)
  magna cum laude; Editor-in-Chief - Washburn Law Journal; Washburn Law Presidential Scholarship
• Washburn University (B.A., 1992)
  summa cum laude

Admissions

• Kansas (2011)
• Missouri (2020)
• U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas (2011)
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri (2020)
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (2023)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Court (2020)

• Employment & Labor
• Governmental Liability
• Litigation & Disputes
• Appellate Law
• Insurance Defense Litigation

• Board of Elders, Christ Lutheran Church, Topeka, 2007-2013, 2015-present
• Volunteer coach, League 42 baseball league, Wichita, 2015
• Volunteer, Shawnee County Youth Court, 2009-2011

• Law Clerk, Hon. Nancy L. Moritz, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (2015-16)
• Law Clerk, Hon. Eric F. Melgren, U.S. District Court, Wichita (2013-15)
• Research Attorney, Hon. Steve Leben, Kansas Court of Appeals (2011-13)
• Law Clerk, Shawnee County District Court during Washburn Law School (2009-11)

• Selected by peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in the areas of Appellate Practice, Commercial Litigation, and Labor and Employment Law - Management, 2021-2025; Civil Rights Law and Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2022-2025
• Federal Bar Association, Kansas and Western District of Missouri Chapter Secretary (2020 – present); Newsletter Editor (2019-present) 
• Kansas Bar Association, Annual Survey Editorial Committee (2014-present)
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
• Johnson County Bar Association
• Tenth Circuit Historical Society, Newsletter Editor (2020-present)
• Kansas Association of Defense Counsel, Amicus Committee Co-Chair (2018-2020); Chair (2021-present); Board of Directors (2022-present)
• Earl E. O'Connor Inn of Court
• Defense Research Institute

2024

• Employment Law Squares (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Employment Law Institute)

2022

• Reasonable Accommodation in a Pandemic and Post-Pandemic World (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Employment Law Institute Webinar Series)

2020

• HR Guide to the New COVID-Related Laws (Olathe Chamber)

2019

• Pros and Cons of Arbitration Agreements (Disrupt HR Topeka)
• Free Press vs. Fake News (Topeka Bar Association Law Day)
• Anatomy of a Civil Rights Lawsuit (Wichita Bar Association Civil Practice CLE)
• Employment Law Mythbusters (Foulston Siefkin LLP, HR Training Series)
• Ethical Issues in Workplace Investigations (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Corporate Counsel Series: Ethics 2019)
• Anatomy of a Complaint: From Charge to Lawsuit (Foulston Siefkin LLP, HR Training Series) 
• Fake News: Constitutional and Liability Considerations, and Do We Need to Fact-Check Benjamin Franklin? (Earl O’Connor Inn of Court)

2018

• Back to the Basics: HR Topics from A-Z that Every HR Professional Should Know (Foulston Siefkin LLP, HR Training Series)​
• How to Spot Fake News, Whatever That Means (Veterans’ Legal Association of Washburn)

2022

• KS Employers Barred from Firing Employees Seeking Vaccine Mandate Waivers 
  -Midwest Employment Law Letter, Vol. 3, No. 1

2019

• KADC Amicus Committee Report, Kansas Defense Journal

• 2019 Kansas Bar Association Annual Survey of Law, Civil Procedure chapter

2018

• KADC Amicus Committee Report, Kansas Defense Journal

• 2018 Kansas Bar Association Annual Survey of Law, Civil Procedure chapter
• Arbitrate or Litigate? The Answer May Vary in Kansas and Missouri
  -Kansas Employment Law Letter, Vol. 25, No. 9

2021

• Kansas Gov. Kelly Signs Bill Banning Firing Employees Seeking Waivers From Mandatory Vaccine Requirements