Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) articles from August 2007

Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) archives from August 2007

St. Louis boasts seven top labor management attorneys.
August 1, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin Seven local lawyers were recently named among the top U.S. attorneys in labor law, a shrinking specialty because of the diminished power of unions nationwide. Labor Relations Institute Inc., an anti-union consulting...

St. Louis-based A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. loses dismissal in fraud case.
August 1, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka A class-action fraud case against St. Louis-based A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. will move forward in state court after a judge denied the company's motion to dismiss last Friday. The investment company faces a potential...

Commentary: Blunt's choice sets up possibilities for judicial battle.
August 1, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt stands at a crossroads in his term as governor. The Appellate Judicial Commission delivered a three-person panel to him last week for the opening on the Missouri Supreme Court created by the...

State administering tickets for St. Louis County.
August 2, 2007... Byline: Staff report Drivers who pick up traffic tickets in St. Louis County now will send their guilty pleas and fees to the Missouri Fine Collection Center. The state-run collection center also will process tickets that drivers plan to...

Ann Covington returns to Bryan Cave law firm.
August 2, 2007... Byline: Staff report Former Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ann Covington has un-retired, going back to work at Bryan Cave as of counsel a year after she left the firm. Covington was a partner at Bryan Cave for five years, starting when...

Enterprise wraps up Vanguard purchase.
August 2, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car completed its purchase of Vanguard Car Rental on Wednesday, a deal that includes the National and Alamo car rental brands and raises Enterprise's revenue to $11.7 billion per year....

Estate representatives given some discretion.
August 2, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter When Josh Hancock's father filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mike Shannon's Steak and Seafood and others in May, he said he was obliged to do so as administrator of the Cardinal pitcher's estate. Dean Hancock...

Study gives Second Injury Fund slight breathing room.
August 2, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck An independent actuarial review of the state's Second Injury Fund found that the fund will go insolvent in 2009 -- about a year later than previously projected but still too close for policymakers' comfort. According to...

Party crasher.
August 2, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Denouncing the extremist agenda of state Republicans, state Sen. Chris Koster announced Wednesday that he had switched to the Democratic Party. Koster, an attorney and former prosecutor from Harrisonville, south of...

Cole County judge considers midwife challenge.
August 3, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A Cole County judge heard arguments Thursday in a case that could overturn a state law allowing the practice of midwifery. Attorneys on behalf of the Missouri State Medical Association and other doctors' groups said...

Missouri Supreme Court finalists under the microscope.
August 3, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Besides her presumed political leanings, Missouri Court of Appeals Judge Nannette Baker might face another hurdle in her attempt to join the Missouri Supreme Court - her status as a personal injury plaintiff. On...

Commentary: Judges and voters deserve better than Web site offering.
August 3, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Judges in Missouri have been under the gun the past few years. What with political attacks and poor compensation, the position of judge has lost some of its shine. Well, you can now add a national judicial survey Web...

Mo.-based Armstrong Teasdale hires Jeanne Roberts.
August 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Armstrong Teasdale has hired real estate and entertainment attorney Jeanne Roberts, formerly with Gallop Johnson & Neuman. Roberts' practice includes the representation of various public and private...

Talmage E. Newton IV joins St. Louis Evans & Dixon.
August 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Talmage E. Newton IV has joined the civil defense practice group of Evans & Dixon as an associate. Newton is licensed to practice in Missouri, the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri and the...

Patrick Murphy graduates from Clayton Chamber of Commerce's leadership program.
August 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Danna McKitrick attorney Patrick Murphy is one of 17 people in the graduating class of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Clayton 2007 program. He is the fifth attorney in the firm to...

St. Louis Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale hires diversity director.
August 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff J. Danielle Carr has joined the law firm of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale as director of professional development and inclusion. In the newly created position, Carr will be responsible for all activities...

Erika Labelle joins St. Louis office of Bryan Cave.
August 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Erika Labelle has joined the international law firm Bryan Cave as an associate in the St. Louis office. Labelle will join the firm's tax advice and controversy client service group. Last month, she...

Governor wants umpire for High Court.
August 4, 2007... Byline: Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt The Supreme Court of Missouri is our state's highest court. Supreme Court justices exercise the judicial power to determine the constitutionality of statutes and validity of criminal convictions. On issues...

Briefs offer varied views on donations.
August 6, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck In the aftermath of an unexpected Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance that raised as many questions as it answered, a handful of lawyers across the state have written to the court to urge a variety of solutions....

Commentary: Governor Blunt wants umpire for Supreme Court of Missouri.
August 6, 2007... Byline: Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt The Supreme Court of Missouri is our state's highest court. Supreme Court justices exercise the judicial power to determine the constitutionality of statutes and validity of criminal convictions. On issues...

Suit challenges designation of illiteracy in St. Louis as a disability.
August 7, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Illiteracy is not a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act, so a former Normandy School District groundskeeper fired for not being able to read should not be allowed to pursue his disability...

Allstate must pay $1M to insured St. Charles man in defamation case.
August 7, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka To earn the hefty $1 million verdict he received Friday from a St. Louis jury, a St. Charles man had to prove his homeowner's insurance company ruined his reputation in a letter denying his claim. John Johnson, a...

Payday lender sued in Cole County Circuit Court.
August 7, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin A St. Louis County resident sued payday lender Advance America, Cash Advance Centers Inc. on Monday in Cole County Circuit Court. Cynthia Williams claims in her class-action suit that the Spartanburg, S.C.-based...

St. Louis woman admits to embezzlement.
August 8, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff A former employee of Cardinal Ritter Senior Services has pleaded guilty to embezzling $169,000 from the nonprofit group - money intended for seniors and disabled adults. Marie Allen, 54, of St. Louis,...

'Hellhole' in Missouri changes its rules and its image.
August 8, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann A little more than two years ago, President Bush chose Illinois' Madison County Courthouse as a place so desperately in need of tort reform that he came to the St. Louis suburb to sign the federal Class Action Fairness...

Mo. Supreme Court rules fired police captain will get trial.
August 8, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka A tape-recorded conversation with a supervisor about his firing earned a former Maryland Heights police captain his day in court on an age-discrimination claim. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Douglas...

Lembke demands openness from Mo. Appellate Judicial Commission.
August 8, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A state representative who largely controls the judiciary's budget on Tuesday accused the Appellate Judicial Commission of violating the state's Sunshine Law and vowed to file a bill next year to make the body's...

Candidates sought for vacancy on Mo. Court of Appeals Eastern District.
August 8, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The Appellate Judicial Commission is accepting applications for the position of judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Gary M....

Missouri Supreme Court rules suit may proceed against Westin.
August 8, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A Westin Hotel employee involved in a car accident with another hotel employee may pursue his personal injury lawsuit against the hotel and his co-worker, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday. The ruling disagrees...

Commentary: Appellate Commission offers its side.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Richard E. McLeod To the Citizens of Missouri: The Appellate Judicial Commission understands that certain politicians and others have made public statements raising questions about the commission's recent process of nominating...

Newsmakers: Ann Covington.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Staff report Ann Covington has returned to the international law firm Bryan Cave in the firm's Jefferson City office. Covington joins Bryan Cave's appellate and commercial litigation client service groups as of counsel. She was a...

Cole County judge tosses law allowing midwives.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A Cole County judge has thrown out a law that would have allowed lay midwives to practice in Missouri. The Missouri State Medical Association and other medical groups filed suit challenging the law in late June,...

Newsmakers: Hepler Broom adds three partners to St. Louis office.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Staff report Hepler Broom has added John McCollough, Michael Becker and David Kowert as partners in the firm's St. Louis office. McCollough's practice area is litigation, where he focuses on the defense of trucking and...

Cole County judge tosses law allowing midwives.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A Cole County judge has thrown out a law that would have allowed lay midwives to practice in Missouri. The Missouri State Medical Association and other medical groups filed suit challenging the law in late June,...

Newsmakers: Greensfelder adds two associates to health care practice group.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Staff report The law firm of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale has added two associates to its health care practice group. Michael W. Strahan represents hospitals, health systems, physician groups, and individual and ancillary health...

Appeals court denies killer's retrial request.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Convicted killer Michael Taylor was denied Wednesday his request for another hearing by either the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or the three-judge panel that ruled against him in June. The court rejected the...

ABA hits home run with award.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan A real American hero will be honored today in San Francisco and it doesn't involve anyone breaking the major league home run record. The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Governmental Affairs will honor...

Saint Louis University sues former director over theft of trade secrets.
August 9, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Saint Louis University is accusing the former director of cardiac anesthesiology of its medical center with stealing trade secrets. Dr. Dharmender Chandhok, who worked at the center for four years, took with him, when...

Missouri state lawmaker pleads guilty to visa fraud.
August 10, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A state representative who is an immigration attorney pleaded guilty Thursday to felony fraud charges stemming from a scheme to get work visas for some clients. The U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis announced that...

American Bar Association tweaking records proposal.
August 10, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka and Kelly Wiese An American Bar Association committee is fine-tuning a proposal that would urge government authorities to seal certain criminal records from the public eye. The measure tries to expand opportunities...

Seven IP lawyers join St. Louis-based Armstrong Teasdale.
August 10, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole In the latest round of intellectual property attorney musical chairs, seven patent lawyers have landed seats at Armstrong Teasdale. The group, led by partner Christopher Goff, exited St. Louis boutique firm Senniger...

Commentary: Adequacy lawsuits emphasize money rather than better education.
August 10, 2007... Byline: Kathleen Navin As part of a growing trend seen across the United States, several school districts in Missouri continue to perform poorly, failing to prepare students for higher education. Following the St. Louis Public Schools'...

Commentary: Students deserve equal quality school system, no matter their location.
August 10, 2007... Byline: Tyler W. Laney Maybe I was a poor English and social studies student. Article IX, Section 1(a) of Missouri's Constitution states: "A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights...

Swearingen joins Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.
August 13, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Robert Swearingen has joined Legal Services of Eastern Missouri as a staff attorney in the organization's consumer unit. He was hired under a special grant Legal Services received from the National Legal...

Moubry joins Missouri-based Armstrong Teasdale.
August 13, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff J. Grant Moubry has joined Armstrong Teasdale as an associate. Moubry is a member of the firm's intellectual property practice group and focuses his practice primarily on patent prosecution matters....

Pine Lawn reserve officer accused of aiding in witness tampering.
August 13, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin A man accused of taxiing the alleged victim in the witness tampering case against former prosecutor Eric Tolen reportedly took the boy to a police station in late July. There, a notary public certified the youth's...

Death prompts family's lawsuit against Washington County sheriff's dept. and deputy.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The 1-year-old son of a man fatally shot by a Washington County sheriff's deputy last year is suing the sheriff's department and a deputy for wrongful death and excessive use of force. The deceased, 24-year-old John L....

Valley Park moves for end to ordinance dispute.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The city of Valley Park moved for summary judgment Friday on the federal suit against its immigration ordinances. The city wants U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber to rule the city's ordinances are in line with...

Police consider attempted robbery in deadly shooting in St. Louis.
August 14, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Police suspect that a man who represented immigrants through Legal Services of Eastern Missouri was shot and killed Saturday in an attempted robbery. Dan Horkheimer, 29, was working in front of his north St. Louis...

Missouri's attorney general.
August 14, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The No. 2 Republican in the state Senate wants Missouri's attorney general to investigate the closed-meeting practices of the commission picking the next state Supreme Court judge. Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph,...

Kansas City hopes grant will reduce recidivism.
August 14, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey A Kansas City municipal jail official says a $75,000 grant will help provide referral services for female inmates and reduce the 70 percent recidivism rate. Nancy Leazer, superintendent of the Municipal Correctional...

Missouri-based Bryan Cave loses attorneys to Ogletree Deakins.
August 14, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Three former attorneys at Bryan Cave have opened a St. Louis office for Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC. Gregg M. Lemley and Tim A. Garnett opened the office as shareholders of Ogletree...

Commentary: Lawyering brings out the poker face in all of us.
August 14, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier You have to use your poker face now and then. Court does not always go as you or your client expects, and your clients don't always do what you expect. Bottom line: Letting yourself appear flustered and upset will not...

Environmentalists ask to join suit against Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District.
August 15, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A University City-based environmental group wants to be part of a federal lawsuit that accuses the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District of dumping raw sewage into local waterways. On Monday, the Missouri Coalition for...

Environmentalists ask to join suit.
August 15, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A University City-based environmental group wants to be part of a federal lawsuit that accuses the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District of dumping raw sewage into local waterways. On Monday, the Missouri Coalition for...

Working Mother magazine names Missouri law firms among best for women.
August 15, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Three Missouri-based law firms are among the nation's 50 best for female attorneys, according to a study published in Working Mother magazine. Making the cut were Blackwell Sanders, Armstrong Teasdale...

ABA drops proposal to close criminal records.
August 16, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A panel of the American Bar Association has dropped an idea, for now, calling on governments to close some criminal records. The ABA's criminal justice section pulled back a proposal during the weekend that was aimed at...

No more Mr. Nice Bear.
August 16, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter St. Louis-based Build-A-Bear Workshop is suing a California company for trademark infringement and unfair competition. Build-A-Bear Workshop, which offers customers young and old the experience of making their own...

Former lawmaker must defend law license.
August 16, 2007... Byline: From staff reports The Supreme Court ordered an immigration attorney and former legislator Wednesday to explain why it should not suspend his license to practice law. Nathan Cooper, a Cape Girardeau Republican, pleaded guilty last...

Commentary: Missourians should be allowed to use midwives.
August 17, 2007... Byline: Eric D. Dixon Ever since HB 818, the groundbreaking consumer-based health insurance reform bill, passed both houses of the Legislature by wide bipartisan margins in May, news reports have focused on a small provision legalizing...

St. Louis Family Court hopes to target juvenile crime hopes to target juvenile crime.
August 17, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Alarmed by the climbing recidivism rate among juvenile offenders in the city, St. Louis Circuit Judge Jimmie Edwards went to the juveniles who had appeared before him and posed a question: "What would it take for you...

St. Louis County, N.J. organization battle in 8th Circuit over ownership of historic train.
August 17, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A battle over who owns a historic steam locomotive is headed back to court. Both St. Louis County, as the owner of the Museum of Transportation, and the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society's Lackawanna Chapter,...

Metro voir dire starts today in St. Louis Count Circuit Court.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Despite its size - more than 500 people were vetted as potential jurors last week - the Metro fraud case will play out in St. Louis County Circuit Court like any other civil trial, court staff and attorneys hope. Voir...

Missouri legislators to redo tax break bill.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Legislators return to the state Capitol on Monday to take another crack at passing tax break legislation that ran into problems this spring. They could also make it legal to profit from those extra Cardinals tickets....

Fundraiser to benefit injured St. Louis attorney.
August 21, 2007... Byline: Staff report A fundraiser will be held Friday for Jennifer Thompson, a local attorney beaten seven weeks ago during the burglary of her McKinley Heights home. Thompson's condition has improved since the attack, said neighbor Pat...

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri sues in fed court to block abortion restrictions.
August 21, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Planned Parenthood asked a federal court Monday to block new abortion restrictions from taking effect next week. The Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri chapter sued over a provision in the new law that...

Mo. Attorney General Nixon rejects investigation of judicial selection.
August 21, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Attorney General Jay Nixon has declined to investigate the Appellate Judicial Commission, saying there is no indication that the group violated state open meetings laws. State Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields,...

8th Circuit rejects latest moves to stop execution.
August 21, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A federal appeals court has denied a motion by death row inmate Michael A. Taylor to stay its mandate following the court's refusal earlier this month to grant Taylor a rehearing of his case. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court...

U.S. District Court dismisses lawsuit over tattoo photography.
August 21, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The city of Bella Villa and its police chief did not violate a young woman's constitutional rights when the chief allegedly photographed a butterfly tattoo in her pelvic area. This decision by U.S. Senior District...

Missouri Supreme Court suspends ex-legislator's law license.
August 21, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The Missouri Supreme Court suspended on Friday the law license of former state Rep. Nathan Cooper, an immigration attorney who pleaded guilty Aug. 9 to two felonies. The Cape Girardeau Republican had...

Bank spanked by Missouri Supreme Court.
August 22, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri Supreme Court issued a sweeping reprimand Tuesday to banks that charge fees for processing mortgage-loan documents. Charging such fees is the unauthorized practice of law, the court said, siding with a...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules Bible ban to remain in effect.
August 22, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A federal judge was right to enter a preliminary injunction barring the distribution of Bibles to students at an elementary school in southeastern Missouri, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday. U.S....

City of Valley Park secretly passed amendment, plaintiffs allege.
August 22, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The plaintiff in the federal case on Valley Park's immigration ordinances has alleged the city amended one of the measures at an ad hoc evening meeting earlier this month, in violation of state open-meetings laws....

City of Valley Park secretly passed amendment, plaintiffs allege.
August 22, 2007... Byline: David Stokes Missourians amended our state constitution in 1940 to change the ways judges were selected for the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the circuit courts of Jackson County and St. Louis. This was done in response...

Missouri Supreme Court sets aside Lyons death sentence.
August 22, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The Missouri Supreme Court set aside on Tuesday the death sentence of Andrew Lyons, who was convicted in 1996 of murdering his girlfriend's mother, and resentenced him to life without parole. But Lyons remains on death...

Amendment backer sues over ballot language.
August 23, 2007... A group trying to add a proposed constitutional amendment to the November 2008 ballot is suing Missouri [macron]s secretary of state over language describing the initiative petition. At issue is the election official [macron]s description of...

Amendment backer sues Missouri's secretary of state over ballot language.
August 23, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A group trying to add a proposed constitutional amendment to the November 2008 ballot is suing Missouri's secretary of state over language describing the initiative petition. At issue is the election official's...

Joyce M. Capshaw honored by Order of Barristers at U of Missouri-Columbia law school.
August 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Joyce M. Capshaw, a principal at Carmody MacDonald in Clayton, is being recognized as the Honorary Inductee for the Order of Barristers at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. Capshaw is a...

Robert B. Kinz joins Armstrong Teasdale.
August 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Robert B. Kinz has joined the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale and is a partner in the firm's corporate services group. He concentrates his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, real estate...

Four elected to Legal Services of Eastern Missouri board.
August 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Todd Ahrens, Daphney Destin, Pamela Meanes and Jennifer Schwendemann have been elected to two-year terms on the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri Board of Directors. Ahrens is senior vice president and...

Amendment backer sues over ballot language.
August 23, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A group trying to add a proposed constitutional amendment to the November 2008 ballot is suing Missouri's secretary of state over language describing the initiative petition. At issue is the election official's...

Group aims to undo part of stem cell amendment.
August 23, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A group opposed to a form of early stem cell research filed paperwork Wednesday to try to undo the goal of a constitutional amendment Missouri voters narrowly passed last year. The amendment just enacted provides...

K.C. law firm grows business law practice.
August 23, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Shook, Hardy & Bacon is expanding its business law division in Kansas City and several other offices to anticipate clients' future needs and to reach its goal of becoming a national firm. The Kansas City-based firm...

Maryland Heights demands rehearing on discrimination decision.
August 23, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Attorneys for the city of Maryland Heights filed a motion Tuesday for a rehearing before the state Supreme Court on a contentious employment law case decided two weeks ago. The case, Daugherty v. City of Maryland...