Michael Ketchmark

Michael Ketchmark
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	University of Iowa (BA, JD)
Occupation	Attorney
Years active	1990–present

Michael Scott Ketchmark is an American civil trial attorney based in Leawood, Kansas.^[1] He is the president of Ketchmark & McCreight, P.C., a law firm which specializes in personal injury cases.^[2]

Career

Ketchmark represented the plaintiffs in over 275 wrongful death lawsuits seeking civil damages stemming from the criminal conviction of Robert Courtney, a former pharmacist sentenced to over 30 years in federal prison for intentionally diluting prescription drugs, including chemotherapy medication, for financial gain.^[3]^[4] A jury awarded $2.2 billion on behalf of Courtney's victims in February 2002.^[5] In 2020, when Courtney was eligible to be released 7 years early due to health concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ketchmark and other lawyers involved in Courtney's case called on officials to reconsider their decision, which resulted in Courtney's continued prison detention.^[6]^[7]

Ketchmark has represented clients before the Supreme Court of Missouri.^[8]

Burnett et al v. National Association of Realtors et al

Beginning in 2019, Ketchmark served as the plaintiff's lead attorney in Burnett et al v. National Association of Realtors et al, a class action lawsuit involving the sellers of over 260,000 homes in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois during the period of 2015 to 2022.^[9] The lawsuit alleged that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) had anticompetitive rules that required home sellers to pay commission to the home buyer's broker, effectively resulting in inflated commissions and artificially high mortgage rates and real property values.^[10] Specifically, the plaintiffs demonstrated that the NAR required sellers to make nonnegotiable commission offers of between 5–6% before listing homes on the property database, the Multiple Listing Service, without which seller's homes would have virtually no marketplace visibility.^[11] On October 31, 2023, after a two-week trial a federal jury found the defendants guilty and held the NAR liable for $1.78 billion in damages.^[12] Additional defendants in the case included HomeServices of America and Keller Williams Realty, among others.^[13] On the same day as the jury's verdict, Ketchmark filed a larger class action lawsuit covering all home sellers in the United States who paid commissions since 2019, and is seeking $100 billion in damages.^[14]

Political contributions

Ketchmark has personally and through his firm collectively donated over $1 million to Republican and Democrat political campaigns and political action committees in Missouri.^[15]

References

^ "Lawyer Directory Detail". Missouri State Bar. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ "More than $20 million disbursed to victims from punitive damages awards fund, Labor Department figures reveal". St. Louis Daily Record. 25 February 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
^ Stitch, Rodney (2012). The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly. Silverpeak Publisher, Inc. ISBN 9780932438799.
^ Class Action Litigation Report. Washington, D.C.: United States Bureau of National Affairs. 2003. p. 887.
^ Dan Collins (25 February 2002). "Drug-Diluting Pharmacist Gets 30 Years". CBS News. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ "Victims' lawyer: Drug-diluting pharmacist set to be released". Associated Press. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ Katie Moore (14 July 2020). "Monster KC pharmacist who diluted medications for years to be released 7 years early". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ "L.A.C. v. Ward Parkway Shopping Center, L. P." (PDF). Supreme Court of Missouri. 1 October 2001. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ Elisabeth Buchwald (31 October 2023). "Realtors found liable for $1.8 billion in damages in conspiracy to keep commissions high". CNN. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ "Burnett et al v. National Association of Realtors et al". U.S. Courts, Western District of Missouri. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ Julian Mark (31 October 2023). "Jury awards $1.8B in realty case that could shake up brokerage commissions". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ Mike Scarcella and Jonathan Stempel (31 October 2023). "US jury finds realtors liable for inflating commissions, awards $1.78 bln damages". Reuters. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ Elisabeth Buchwald (1 November 2023). "Realtors found liable for $1.8 billion in damages in conspiracy to keep commissions high". ABC. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ Katie Arcieri (1 November 2023). "Home Sellers Seek $100 Billion From 'Goliath' Realtor Groups". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ Rudi Keller (30 March 2021). "Todd Graves gets high-powered help lobbying for UM curator position". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved 11 November 2023.