Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, announces today that senior managing associate Samantha Wenger has been selected by Missouri Lawyers Media for the 2021 Up & Coming Award. Wenger is a member of Dentons’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice and is resident in the Firm’s Kansas City office.

The annual Up & Coming Awards recognize legal professionals age 40 or younger who demonstrate professional excellence while making a positive impact on their profession and communities. Wenger was chosen for her level of professional accomplishment, skill and leadership beyond her years, and her extraordinary commitment to the community through volunteer service and leadership.

Clients rely on Wenger to dissect and translate complex insurance issues and then develop successful resolution strategies. Her practice focuses on insurance disputes, including coverage and extra-contractual liability. She is also experienced in insurance regulatory law and has assisted in structuring complex liquidations of several insolvent insurance companies under Missouri law.

For more than three years, Wenger has led an expansive team of Dentons’ lawyers in representing two leading property and casualty (P&C) and specialty insurers as lead nationwide counsel with respect to coverage claims stemming from the opioid litigation. The opioid litigation involves over 3,500 cases brought by state and local governments and Native American tribes from around the United States that seek to recover the increased costs they have faced as a result of the opioid crisis from opioid manufacturers, distributors, retailers, local pharmacies and/or prescribers. Wenger serves as the point person for these clients and is responsible for understanding the underlying opioid litigation and novel coverage issues stemming from that litigation. She advises the clients on actions to take regarding hundreds of opioid insured accounts based on developments in the underlying litigation.

In addition to her practice, Wenger is dedicated to serving her community. She assisted, pro bono, in a critical victory for voting rights in Bednasek v. Kobach. She also has devoted considerable attention to LEAP (Lawyers Encouraging Academic Performance), an organization of local lawyers and state and federal judges founded more than 25 years ago to serve disadvantaged children in the Kansas City area. Wenger has served on LEAP’s board since 2013 and is a co-founder of its Reading/Study Buddies Program. For the past five years, Wenger has served as co-chair of the Back-to-School Breakfast event at Operation Breakthrough, during which LEAP provides backpacks, school supplies and uniforms to all of the Operation Breakthrough children.