Peter G. Kumpe

Peter G. Kumpe is a founding member of Williams & Anderson. His primary areas of practice are complex and class action litigation involving antitrust, securities, intellectual property, construction and other business matters. He is a seasoned trial lawyer with substantial jury experience. He also represents corporations and individuals in connection with regulatory and other investigations of business activities.

In three cases, Mr. Kumpe's client not only ultimately prevailed but also established significant Arkansas precedents: pricing must be in fact predatory to create a violation under the Arkansas Unfair Practices Act, Ark. Code Ann. § 4-75-201 et. seq. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. American Drugs, Inc., 319 Ark. 214, 891 S.W.2d 30 (1995); a tortious interference in Arkansas must be wrongful to be actionable, Mason v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 333 Ark. 3, 969 S.W.2d 160 (1998); substantial evidence of uniqueness must be presented to protect information under the Arkansas Trade Secrets Act, Ark. Code Ann. § 4-75-601 et. seq., and the information at issue must not otherwise be ascertainable, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. The P. O. Market, Inc., 347 Ark. 651, 66 S.W.3d 620 (2002).

He has successfully defended and prosecuted class actions. In a recent successful defense, Mr. Kumpe’s client litigated class claims over a substantial number of years in both federal and state court, and finally achieved a satisfactory settlement well below the class demands and within the range originally targeted by the firm’s client. Nat’l Enters. V. Kessler, 363 Ark. 167, 213 S.W.3d 597, 2005 Ark. LEXIS 459 (2005), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1174, 126 S. Ct. 1340, 164 L.Ed.2d 55, 2006 U.S. LEXIS 1205 (2006); Nat’l Enters., Inc. v. Lake Hamilton Resort, Inc., 335 Ark. 578, 142 S.W.3d 608, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 28 (2004); Kessler v. National Enters. Inc., 165 F.3d 596 (8th Cir. 1999) (Kessler I); Kessler v. National Enters. Inc., 203 F.3d 1058 (8th Cir. 2000) (Kessler II); Kessler v. National Enters. Inc., 238 F.3d 1006 (8th Cir. 2001) (Kessler III); Kessler v. National Enters. Inc., 347 F.3d 1076 (8th Cir. 2003) (Kessler IV).

Mr. Kumpe represented the Alltel Arena Board in connection with legal issues arising from the defalcation of a principal contractor, the replacement of that contractor under a performance bond, and a successful resolution of multimillion dollar claims resulting from defectively fabricated raker beams. The project was ultimately completed in a timely fashion and without significant litigation.

Prior to the founding of Williams & Anderson, Mr. Kumpe was a partner in one of the State's largest law firms. He served on the Adjunct Faculty of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law teaching securities regulation from 1975 to 1978 and antitrust and trade regulation from 1980 to 1991 and again in 2007. He is a former law clerk to Judge G. Thomas Eisele, U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. He is a member of the American Law Institute, and he serves on the Arkansas Bar Association Commission on Diversity, and served as its co-chairman in 2003-2004. He served on the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions-Civil from 1999 to 2004 and was Chairman of that committee from January 1, 2000, until the expiration of his term in 2004. He is a Fellow of the Arkansas Bar Foundation.

He attended Duke University and graduated with a B.A. degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1969. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1972. During law school, Mr. Kumpe was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served as Managing Editor of the Texas Law Review. Mr. Kumpe is listed in Best Lawyers in America under Antitrust Law, Commercial Litigation, and "Bet-the-Company" Litigation; in Chambers USA as a “Leader” in the field of General Commercial Litigation; and in Mid-South Super Lawyers in the areas of Business Litigation, Class Action/Mass Torts and Antitrust Litigation.

Mr. Kumpe has served on the Foundation Fund Board of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and on the University of Arkansas Foundation, where he served as chairman in 1998 through 2000 and again in 2010 through 2012, and now serves on its Executive Committee. He acts as general counsel for Lions World Services for the Blind on a volunteer basis and also serves on that organization's Board of Directors. He chairs the World Services for the Blind Foundation. He is an active member of Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, and serves as Vice President of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Mr. Kumpe is an avid fly fisherman. He and his wife, Trudy, have three children.

PRACTICE AREAS: Business Litigation, Securities and Antitrust

Arkansas Model Jurity Instructions-Civil: Bringing Simplicity, Brevity and Impartiality to Jury Instructions in a Commercial Case, The Arkansas Lawyer, Vol 42 No 1, January 2007
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Peter G. Kumpe

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Duke University

University of Texas School of Law

Lions World Services for the Blind