Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) articles from December 2008

Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) archives from December 2008

Paralegals' roles grow: Clients view them as part of the legal team.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Forty years ago, the title paralegal didn't even exist in law offices. Today, paralegals have become an integral part of the legal team performing legal research, drafting documents, assisting clients, appearing in...

Arbitration, tobacco cases on U.S. Supreme Court's plate this week.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The U.S. Supreme Court today will hear arguments about whether a union contract can compel individual employees to arbitrate employment discrimination claims. The case, 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett, arose when the owners of...

Two of Missouri's largest law firms cancel annual parties.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Two of Missouri's largest law firms are holding off on annual parties due to the difficult economic times and scheduling problems. Bryan Cave is canceling its holiday party for its St. Louis headquarters in favor of...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
December 2, 2008... Peggy Sullivan's title in Monday's article about the paralegal and legal secretary professions was incorrect. She is a word processor at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. In the same edition, in a story about canceled parties at Bryan Cave and Polsinelli...

Immunity granted in foster child's death: Social workers' behavior not 'shocking,' 8th Circuit rules.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The Missouri Department of Social Services and two of its employees won't be tried for the wrongful death of an 8-year-old foster child. The boy, Braxton Wooden Jr., died three years ago during a game of cops and...

Former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice John 'Jack' Bardgett Sr. dies at 81.(Obituary)
December 2, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Former Missouri Supreme Court Justice John Jack Bardgett Sr. died on Nov. 29 at age 81 from leukemia. Bardgett served on the court from 1970 to 1982 and was chief justice from 1979 to 1981. After his time on the high...

St. Louis-based Bryan Cave formally opens Paris office.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Bryan Cave's Paris office formally opened last week. The Paris Bar Council approved the St. Louis firm's establishment of a practice in the city, Bryan Cave announced Nov. 25. Bryan Cave had started the office in July...

Federal judge in St. Joseph examines family relationships to apportion settlement.
December 3, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A federal judge in St. Joseph ended a family fight over the proceeds of a wrongful death settlement. Donald and Barbara Hodge were killed in July 2005 in a collision with a train at a railroad crossing in Buchanan...

Independence-based Community of Christ sues again over use of name.
December 3, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck For the second time in two years, the Independence-based Community of Christ has filed a trademark lawsuit against an unauthorized branch group that uses the church's former name. In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal...

Missouri tax preparers challenge noncompete agreement.
December 3, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A class of former employees of an affiliate of Jackson Hewitt is challenging the company's noncompete agreement. The class action petition, filed by Gene Swartzenberg, asked the court for an injunction and declaratory...

Kansas City man gets new trial vs. police.
December 3, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City man who spent more than five years in prison will get a new trial against the police detectives he claims set him up. Oren Gamble, who served time for burglary, was on the losing end of a June 2006...

Pfizer settlement approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen despite plaintiff concerns.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck A federal judge on Wednesday agreed to enforce a confidential settlement that left all parties except the plaintiff satisfied. In June, Christopher Jenkins Jr.'s attorneys reached a mediated deal with pharmaceutical...

U.S. District Court in St. Louis rules bankruptcy doesn't foreclose employment claims.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A federal judge in St. Louis denied a railroad's attempt to keep one of its employees from pursuing his discrimination claims against the company. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. said Shawn L. Rush, a conductor, lost his...

Citing itself, Missouri Court of Appeals Western District allows stacking.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An appeals court had an easy roadmap to follow in deciding an insurance stacking dispute. Robert Bauer II and his wife, Lila, had nearly identical language in their policy as one in a case reviewed by the Missouri...

Commentary: How do you define success?
December 4, 2008... Byline: Christine Ann Hughes A prominent attorney recently told me how successful a particular law firm had become. My response to him was, Define success. If a law firm can pay their partners a million-dollar bonus and decline to give a...

Jackson County Circuit Court plans celebration to remember late Kelly Moorhouse.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick The Jackson County Circuit Court will hold a day of remembrance to celebrate the life of Judge Kelly Moorhouse, who died following a private fight with cancer in October. In a release from the court, Presiding Judge...

St. Louis law firm The Stolar Partnership confirms some layoffs.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole St. Louis law firm The Stolar Partnership has joined the ranks of law firms laying off attorneys. Four associates, a partner and an unknown number of staff were informed of the layoffs Wednesday, according to an...

A female touch: Rebbecca Lake Wood becomes fourth woman to lead KC Metro Bar Assn.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick For just the fourth time in its 124-year history, a woman will lead the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. Rebbecca Lake Wood became the association's newest president during its annual meeting on Thursday....

Ron Holliger, Paul Spinden to exit Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Two judges from the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District, Ron Holliger and Paul Spinden, are expected to leave the court in January, according to their colleagues. Holliger, a two-time finalist for a Missouri...

Class action filed against Brentwood-based KV Pharmaceutical.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Brentwood-based KV Pharmaceutical has been hit with a shareholder class action lawsuit for issuing false statements about its compliance with federal regulations and its financial prospects. The suit was filed Tuesday...

Stolar Partnership confirms some layoffs.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole St. Louis law firm The Stolar Partnership has joined the ranks of law firms laying off attorneys. Four associates, a partner and an unknown number of staff were informed of the layoffs Wednesday, according to an...

8th Circuit discrimination case goes to U.S. Supreme Court.
December 9, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up the issue of whether direct evidence is required in a discrimination case before a jury can consider whether discrimination was a motivating factor for an adverse employment...

Kansas City mayor's $30,000 settlement plays out in public.
December 9, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Over the past several months, Jim Wirken sometimes found himself working outside his role as attorney. Representing Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser in a closely followed harassment suit, Wirken occasionally took...

U.S. Supreme Court denies Alltel case against city of Springfield over cellular tax.
December 9, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley The U.S. Supreme Court has denied an appeal by Alltel Communications in its case against the city of Springfield for its gross receipts tax on cell phone services. By denying Alltel's appeal, the Supreme Court...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District recognizes negligent credentialing.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District recognized a cause of action for negligent credentialing against hospitals that authorize independent doctors to practice there. The court, in an opinion issued Tuesday,...

Two personal injury suits filed in St. Louis County target Union Pacific.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Two personal injury suits were filed in St. Louis County against Union Pacific Railroad Co., alleging unsafe conditions at the railroad. Both lawsuits were filed by attorney Drew Baebler, of Bauer & Baebler. He says...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District reverses denial of workers' compensation claim.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An appeals court wants more answers before it decides whether an emergency responder, who was injured at her home before leaving for a call, is entitled to workers' compensation. The Missouri Court of Appeals...

Kansas City-based NovaStar to settle class action suit for $7.25M.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick NovaStar Financial Inc. agreed to pay $7.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit earlier this week. The Kansas City-based company, which at one point was a leader in subprime lending, faced accusations that it...

St. Louis County Circuit Court awards homeowner consent judgment against predatory mortgage broker.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter You might want to think twice before ignoring those Internet pop-up ads. One just may be responsible for allowing a north St. Louis County woman to keep her home and for winning her a $120,000 consent judgment against...

Kansas City couple claims 'racial animus' by store's staff.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City couple is demanding millions of dollars for the harassment they allegedly received while holiday shopping at a sporting goods store four years ago. Terrie Withers and Alvin Smith, who are engaged,...

Missouri Supreme Court rejects proposed discovery rule.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected a proposed Supreme Court rule that would have required expert witnesses to maintain more detailed records about their testimony in past cases. The high court vacated the...

St. Louis County Circuit Judge Wiesman to retire after 42 years.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley St. Louis County Circuit Judge Melvyn W. Wiesman will be retiring in January, after serving 42 years on the bench -- the longest tenure of any sitting judge in the state. Wiesman will retire Jan. 30 a few weeks before...

Missouri Supreme Court to decide case on law that changed in time between crime and plea.
December 12, 2008... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum The Missouri Supreme Court was asked Wednesday to determine whether a law regarding the registration of the state's sex offenders applies to individuals who committed applicable crimes before the law went into...

Missouri Supreme Court to decide if psychologist's status affects predator's incarceration.
December 12, 2008... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum Attorney General Jay Nixon's office is seeking to reverse the dismissal of an involuntary commitment order for an individual deemed to be a sexually violent predator. But the man's public defender argued that the...

Legal advice on money woes now a click away on Missouri Bar site.
December 12, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley To help Missourians manage their money in the current economic climate, The Missouri Bar has launched a money guide on its Web site. The Web site, www.mobar.org/moneyguide, will also inform people of their legal rights...

Zel Fischer, already on court, formally takes oath to join Missouri Supreme Court.
December 15, 2008... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum When Zel Fischer was interviewed for the vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court in August, Supreme Court Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith asked the associate circuit judge how he would contribute to the collegiality...

Missouri defender's office institutes hiring freeze.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri State Public Defender's Office has announced a statewide freeze on new hires for 2009, the first hiring freeze in the system's 36-year history. The unprecedented move was prompted by a sudden plunge in...

Embattled Independence attorney's practice to end in February or before.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An embattled Independence attorney, under fire for mishandling clients' funds, will give up his law license in February. That is if the Missouri Supreme Court doesn't take it first. In an affidavit filed last week...

Metro St. Louis sewer district sued over flooding death.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District faces a lawsuit over September flooding that led to a woman's death. John G. Simon, John Campbell and Erich Vieth and others in the Simon Passanante law firm filed a wrongful...

Commentary: We need to hit bottom before rebuilding.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Boy, this economy is on everyone's minds. At press time the auto bail out had been nudged into a ditch by the powers in Washington, and of course the various lunatic financial markets responded poorly. I don't know...

Missouri Supreme Court upholds Batson challenge.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley In a ruling affirming the trial court's discretion, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a judge's decision to sustain a Batson challenge. The ruling upheld a $212,000 jury verdict for Doris Kesler-Ferguson in her...

St. Louis schools takeover upheld by Missouri Supreme Court.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A unanimous state Supreme Court rejected all arguments by those seeking to reinstate the elected board for the St. Louis Public School District. The court found that the State Board of Education acted properly in...

Missouri Court of Appeals sends tobacco case back where it was in '07.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck A major tobacco case that has consumed more than five years of court time so far has added another 113 pages to its history. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesday formally readopted an opinion that...

Missouri Supreme Court rules ill woman's loss of job not voluntary.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A woman with ovarian cancer did not voluntarily leave her sales job and was wrongly denied unemployment benefits, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. In a unanimous decision, the court reversed a Labor and...

Tort reformers warn about Missouri's metro counties.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley While Missouri courts weren't deemed hellholes by a recent survey ranking, they weren't listed as the best courts in the country for defendants either. In its annual Judicial Hellholes Report, the American Tort Reform...

Army Corps of Engineers sues St. Louis-based AmerenUE over Taum Sauk Reservoir disaster.
December 18, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka The Army Corps of Engineers has filed a federal lawsuit against AmerenUE over the 2005 Taum Sauk Reservoir disaster. The Army Corps claims that the reservoir collapse released debris that traveled downriver to...

Missouri Supreme Court outlines reformed eminent domain process.
December 18, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole This week, the Missouri Supreme Court started outlining some of the procedures trial courts should use for eminent domain cases under reform passed in 2006. On Tuesday, the court said a heritage award required under...

Mo. Supreme Court rules "sexually violent predators" standard is 'clear and convincing' evidence.
December 18, 2008... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum The Missouri Supreme Court rejected a bid by two men to overturn their determinations as sexually violent predators, ruling that it was constitutional to use a clear and convincing evidence standard to make such a...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals uses new rule in sentencing enhancements.
December 19, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Two Kansas City brothers' enhanced sentences for drug and weapons possession could change under a new standard recently set by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In an opinion issued Wednesday, the 8th Circuit said...

Grain Valley funeral home settles class action.
December 19, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick The owner of a Grain Valley funeral home and cemetery will pay nearly $1.27 million to settle allegations that its deceptive advertising misled military veterans who purchased burial services. The award will be...

Lawmakers in Missouri oppose raises.
December 22, 2008... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum The top lawmaker on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced last week that he opposes a plan boosting the salaries of elected officials and judges if state employees get a raise as well. State Sen. Matt Bartle,...

Med Mal Suit in St. Louis County: Does 'failure to inform' trump statute of limitations?
December 22, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Linda Budrovich went to get a routine mammogram scheduled by her doctor Katherine Wilke at St. Anthony's Medical Center in south St. Louis County. Budrovich claims she was told that she would be contacted if the scan...

Fake federal agent sentenced to five years.
December 22, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A man who posed as a federal drug enforcement agent in Gerard has been sentenced to five years in prison on Friday. Bill Jakob, of Washington, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel after Jakob had reached...

Commentary: Big Tobacco never mentioned thunder lunging.
December 22, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Last week the Supreme Court took a break from denying challenges to President-elect Obama's citizenship credentials to say that a Maine woman has the right to present evidence to a jury that cigarette companies...

First legal challenge to Missouri's 2010 ballot filed.
December 23, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The ACLU has filed a lawsuit seeking to dismantle an effort to limit use of affirmative action programs in government before it really gets started. The leader of the effort also has filed a legal challenge. It's...

St. Louis clothing store ruled not liable for fatal shooting.
December 23, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A Northwest Plaza clothing store is not liable for the shooting death of a customer by an off-duty police officer, a federal judge said Friday. The store, Man Alive, did not breach its duty to protect its customers...

St. Louis court to meet en banc.
December 23, 2008... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Report It's the week of Christmas, and hardly a creature is stirring at the courthouse. Yet St. Louis judges are holding their regular meeting on Tuesday. The court has not scheduled any jury trials for...

Missouri law firm Simon Passanante splits up.
December 23, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole After 19 years in practice together, plaintiffs' attorneys John Simon and Paul Passanante are going their separate ways. Passanante will open Paul J. Passanante & Associates on Jan. 1. He is bringing with him associate...

Lawyer layoffs now part of Missouri's landscape.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole 2008 was diaper-clad when the first news of legal layoffs broke. Among the 505 corporate cuts announced Jan. 31 by Kansas City-based H&R Block were some in the legal department. The move came as the tax preparer, which...

Forgotten St. Louis case raised eyebrows, not over yet.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A college instructor filed a lawsuit after a dispute with a moving company. The case went to court in 1997 and 2002. But it wasn't until 16 years after the move that a final judgment was entered this spring in his...

Gov. Blunt to appoint new Jackson County circuit judge.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick With Gov. Matt Blunt's time in office coming to an end, Jackson County could have a new circuit judge within the next two weeks. Blunt will pick from a panel that includes Rod Chapel, Joel May and Dale Youngs. The...

Missouri's Gov. Blunt will turn over e-mails to investigative team.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum Court-appointed attorneys and lawyers for Gov. Matt Blunt came to a settlement on Tuesday afternoon over a festering controversy concerning records retention in the governor's office. In 2007, Nixon appointed a...

Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan fight overcomes opposition on varied fronts.
December 26, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley In 2008, the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan was tested on every level, with an appointment of a new Supreme Court judge, the election on whether to add a new county to the plan and attempts to pass legislation to...

St. Louis County jury awards $21 million verdict.
December 26, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A $21 million jury verdict for a man paralyzed after a traffic accident set a record for personal injury cases in St. Louis County, and is among the largest jury verdicts statewide for 2008. But as is often the case...

Missouri Supreme Court Judge Fischer's philosophy will slowly unfold.
December 29, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Supporters and critics of the Nonpartisan Court Plan will be keeping a close eye on its most notable beneficiary of 2008. Newly minted Supreme Court Judge Zel Fischer has made a quick rise up the judicial ladder, but...

Bombing mystery in Clayton still unsolved.
December 29, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley The 16th of October started as just another ordinary day for the employees at 190 Carondelet in Clayton. They got up, ate breakfast and went to work like normal, going about their typical workday. But then it all...

St. Charles, St. Louis counties sue state in in Cole County Circuit Court over fees.
December 29, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley St. Louis County and St. Charles County have filed a lawsuit alleging that a $10 sheriff fee increase is unconstitutional. The lawsuit filed in Cole County Circuit Court seeks a declaratory judgment on the...

Judge Joseph Dandurand tapped as deputy AG for Missouri.
December 30, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Another judge from the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District is leaving to join Attorney General-elect Chris Koster's team. Judge Joseph Dandurand, who was appointed to the court just one year ago, will become...

Commentary: Dylan's tune still rings true today.
December 30, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or...

Jay Nixon, Chris Koster prepare for office in Missouri.
December 30, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka At an early November rally before a parking lot full of bright-eyed canvassers, Chris Koster stands shoulder to shoulder with Jay Nixon and addresses the crowd. My job is to fly under Jay's wing, he said, his voice...

Moving forward from tragedy: Lawyers who survived Kirkwood shooting struggle with memory of event.
December 30, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka At one of the last meetings of the Kirkwood City Council before Christmas, Council Member Ignatius Iggy Yuan handed out a holiday gift to his colleagues - coffee mugs emblazoned with the motto Life is good. The...

Mergers rule in Missouri in 2008: Trend not likely to be slowed by economy.
December 31, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Tomorrow marks the official consummation of two of the five merger deals announced or completed by large law firms in Missouri in 2008. Bryan Cave is set to add Atlanta firm Powell Goldstein as of Jan. 1. Also...

Lawsuits couldn't stop merger between St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, Belgium-based InBev.
December 31, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Public outcry sprang up immediately after St. Louis' own Anheuser-Busch announced in June that Belgium-based InBev had offered to buy the company for $65 a share. Some plaintiffs filed shareholder lawsuits against...

Missouri Court of Appeals upholds drunken driving conviction despite unlawful arrest.
December 31, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A Missouri appeals court upheld a Cape Girardeau man's conviction for drunken driving and assaulting a police officer despite finding that his arrest was unlawful. The Eastern District appellate court said police did...

Effort to guarantee secret ballots in union elections begins in Missouri.
December 31, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese An outgoing state senator has filed ballot language that would ask voters to spell out in the state constitution the right to a secret ballot. The effort is being launched in response to federal legislation, backed by...