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

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

Investigation by ATC clears Mike Shannon's restaurant in Missouri criminal case.
June 1, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka and Donna Walter The Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control will not take any actions against Mike Shannon's Steak and Seafood for the death of Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock. The division announced...

Upcoming federal law starts battle over veterans representation.
June 1, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin and Guy Loranger National veterans groups disagree about the value of a federal law that will allow vets to hire attorneys earlier in the benefits process. Some who support the change say it doesn't go far enough....

Missouri estate attorney Voran picked as Lathrop chief.
June 1, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole After the turbulent exit of former Lathrop & Gage Chief Executive Tom Stewart, the firm's partners have picked respected "numbers guy" and estate attorney Joel Voran as their new leader. Voran, elected to a three-year...

Federal appeals courts find growth in senior status.
June 1, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The number of senior judges serving federal appeals courts grew by 63.5 percent in the past 17 years, and the number of authorized judgeships in the same courts grew by just 6.5 percent, according to statistics...

Bad ads: Investigators talk about laws on fraud during St. Louis Better Business Bureau conference.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Federal and state authorities opened up last week about their processes for prosecuting businesses for false or misleading advertisements. Business owners and advertisers listened as representatives from the state...

Are you ready for Rule 4 of Missouri's Rules of Professional Conduct?
June 4, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin Law firms large and small should be preparing to adapt to Missouri's new Rules of Professional Conduct, a former ethics committee chairman of the American Bar Association told participants at the Bench and Bar...

Missouri Bar summit seeks better understanding of judiciary's role.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Wolff recently attended a conference in Kosovo to look at how the former part of Yugoslavia was adjusting to democracy. While there, he encountered elected officials who said...

U.S. Supreme Court drops case after local murder.
June 5, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The murder of a 23-year-old convicted drug dealer on the streets of St. Louis last week has thrown the U.S. Supreme Court for a loop. The nation's highest court was on the cusp of issuing a decision in Mario...

Fake marriage charge could lead to prison, disbarment in Missouri.
June 5, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin Losing his license to practice law might not be Eric Affholter's most pressing concern right now, but the possibility looms for the former head of the state public defender's office in St. Louis. Affholter, who was...

Missouri House committee begins review of second injury fund.
June 5, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A House committee on Monday began a summer-long review that could result in proposals to reform or eliminate the state's Second Injury Fund. Some of the most critical information needed to make a decision -- a...

Federal appeals court in St. Louis upholds lethal injection in upholds lethal injection in Missouri.
June 5, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann A federal appeals court ruling in St. Louis upholding the constitutionality of using lethal injection to carry out a death penalty is a landmark vindication of the state's practice of executing condemned inmates, a...

Applicants sought to fill Missouri Supreme Court vacancy.
June 6, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The Missouri Supreme Court is accepting applications to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Ronnie L. White. White served more than 11 years on the court. He will resign from the...

Mo. judge says judges can be taught about ADA.
June 6, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan When the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990, it represented the first comprehensive attempt to define the legal rights of the disabled. But the fight to defend those rights did not end with the first...

Five board members of St. Louis Public School District fight takeover with lawsuit.
June 6, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Five board members of the St. Louis Public School District are trying to fend off a looming takeover date with a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court. Alleging various constitutional and statutory violations, the...

Robert Swearingen joins Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.
June 7, 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...

Glazier honored by Washington Univ. School of Law in St. Louis.
June 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Dan Glazier, executive director and general counsel for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, was selected as the 2007 honorary initiate into Washington University School of Law's Chapter of the Order of...

Vinson wants $131K if '9999' case in St. Louis-based federal court ends.
June 7, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Lender Ray Vinson, famed for his twangy "ninety-nine, ninety-nine" in TV and radio ads, is looking for a guarantee that he won't be subjected to "unfair prejudice" if a federal judge grants American Equity Mortgage's...

Mound City Bar Association to honor Legal Legends.
June 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Five local judges and attorneys will be recognized as "Legal Legends" during the Mound City Bar Association's Annual Scholarship Reception and Dinner on June 30. The honorees are being recognized as...

John W. Traeger named general counsel at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman in St. Louis.
June 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff John W. Traeger, a law partner at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman in St. Louis with extensive experience dealing with federal, state and local environmental regulatory authorities, has been named internal...

St. Louis office of Blackwell Sanders hosts 27 summer associates.
June 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Twenty-seven summer associates will take part in Blackwell Sanders' 2007 Summer Associate Program, including five who will work in the firm's St. Louis office. The associates are Jessica L. Conlon,...

Steven Cousins named to UM-St. Louis ethics board.
June 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Armstrong Teasdale partner Steven N. Cousins has recently been selected to serve on the Community Advisory Board for the Center of Ethics in Public Life at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The...

Missouri Highway Patrol chief wants PSC to dig deeper in Taum Sauk.
June 8, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin The head of the Missouri State Highway Patrol on Thursday encouraged state utility regulators to do what they could to determine who removed important safety gauges at AmerenUE's Taum Sauk reservoir after its 2005...

Personal injury lawsuit prompts MoDot to investigate a series of interstate on-ramps.
June 8, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka A personal injury lawsuit levied against the Missouri Department of Transportation has returned a $375,000 award and a promise from MoDOT to investigate a series of interstate on-ramps in north St. Louis County. A...

Missouri justice appeal seeks to reinstate voter-fraud suit.
June 8, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey The Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal Monday regarding a voter-fraud lawsuit that a federal court judge tossed out in April. Cynthia Magnuson, spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, said Thursday the...

Commentary: For better or worse, plaintiff's attorneys impact kids' play.
June 8, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Why does it seem like manufacturers have it in for the children in our country? Every week we hear about some product causing a child to break this or that. This week's candidate is the ubiquitous roller shoe. I'm...

Medical parole rarely granted in Missouri.
June 8, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter If Paris Hilton lived in Missouri, she'd have to be close to death or in need of long-term care to qualify for a medical parole. On Thursday, the hotel heiress was reassigned from the Century Regional Detention...

A.G. Edwards tries to overturn defamation award.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Calling an arbitration award "irrational," A.G. Edwards is going to court to try to avoid paying nearly $260,000 for a defamation claim. A National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) panel, which also had ordered...

Missouri's Work Comp head forced out; led SIF reform effort.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Pat Secrest, the director of the state's Division of Workers' Compensation and a frequent voice in this year's effort to reform the Second Injury Fund, left office Thursday. Tammy Cavender, a spokeswoman for the state...

Execution dates requested for 10 on Missouri death row.
June 11, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Report Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon filed motions with the Missouri Supreme Court on Friday requesting the Court set execution dates for 10 death row inmates. The action follows the 8th U.S....

8th Circuit decision overturned in Philip Morris case.
June 12, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Tobacco giant Philip Morris Cos. lost federal court jurisdiction in a lawsuit challenging the design and promotion of the company's light cigarettes - a decision that could reach beyond the tobacco industry. On Monday,...

EPA hits Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District with suit for dumping raw sewage.
June 12, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into every major river in the St. Louis metro area, including the Mississippi; illegally connecting sanitary and storm-water sewers; exposing St. Louis residents to bacteria,...

U.S. Supreme Court picks up replacements for St. Louis man.
June 12, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up another Eighth Circuit case on federal sentencing guidelines after dropping a St. Louis-based appeal when the petitioner was shot and killed last month in an attempted car theft....

American Bar Assn. president to visit St. Louis.
June 12, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff ABA President Karen Mathis will be visiting St. Louis next week on June 19 and 20. On Tuesday, she will begin her day by attending the Council on Legal Education/Diversity program with students from the...

Missouri Supreme Court: Clayton corner not blighted.
June 12, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka For the first time in two years, Clayton business owner Debbie Pyzyk thinks her property on Forsyth Boulevard is safe from city hall and the corporation around the corner. Her relief came when the Missouri Supreme...

Clayton property doesn't meet Mo. Supreme Court's definition of 'blighted'.
June 13, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka For the first time in two years, Clayton business owner Debbie Pyzyk thinks her property on Forsyth Boulevard is safe from city hall and the corporation around the corner. Her relief came when the Missouri Supreme...

Missouri Supreme Court snubs St. Louis's 'market-share' theory.
June 13, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The city of St. Louis has tried for years to get lead paint removed from the walls of hundreds of old buildings in the city. If only the legal theory about who's responsible for that paint had the same sticking power....

Commentary: Little data for those flying solo.
June 13, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Surveys are funny things. According to one released last week, these are good days for some in the legal profession. The survey, conducted by legal staffing firm Robert Half Legal, found that 69 percent of lawyers...

Objectors decry coupons in St. Louis-based Edward D. Jones & Co. settlement.
June 13, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The $127.5 million proposed settlement between St. Louis-based Edward D. Jones & Co. and the class-action plaintiffs who sued the brokerage has hit a snag five weeks before the case is set to be laid to rest....

Missouri Supreme Court rules sex offender registry not retroactive.
June 14, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A juvenile who pleaded guilty to publicly displaying explicit sexual material does not have to register on the state's sex offender list because his plea was entered before the law expanding the registry took effect,...

State of Missouri court administrator to leave for Kosovo post.
June 14, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck "People who are going through mid-life crisis buy cars; they do not move to Kosovo." That's the advice that Missouri State Courts Administrator Mike Buenger got when he told one of his cousins what he publicly announced...

Missouri Supreme Court rules sex offender deserves hearing.
June 14, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A sex offender with lung disease should be allowed a hearing to challenge his confinement in a mental health facility, but the state's sexually violent predator law is valid, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday....

Former prosecutor accused of sodomy with teenage boys in Town & Country.
June 15, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann A former assistant U.S. attorney who claimed in 2001 that he was wrongly being investigated for child molestation has been charged with having sex with two 15-year-old boys in his Town & Country home over the past...

Missouri's Second Injury Fund chairman leaves lobbying position.
June 15, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck An interim House committee studying Missouri's Second Injury Fund pressed on with its work Thursday, despite a few employment changes for the people pushing the study. The committee's chairman, Rep. Steve Hunter,...

Commentary: Watch out for side effects from advertising.
June 15, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Warning! Law firm advertising may be bad for your health. At least that's what a survey released on Wednesday by drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare says. The...

Judges with 8th U.S. Circuit view baseball statistics in the public domain.
June 15, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Judges of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals took healthy swings Thursday at arguments on both sides of a dispute between Major League Baseball and a St. Louis-based fantasy baseball provider. A three-judge panel...

Missouri Public Defender panel asks for Supreme Court help.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Having failed to persuade the Legislature to give it full relief for its heavy caseload, the Missouri State Public Defender's system is taking measures into its own hands, possibly with help from the Missouri Supreme...

Takeover of St. Louis Public Schools proceeds.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Acknowledging that the legal process of stripping the district of its accreditation may be "troublesome," Judge Richard Callahan allowed the state's takeover of St. Louis Public Schools to proceed last week. The Cole...

Federal suit against Bella Villa police chief alleges pelvic tattoo photo equals strip search.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter An Overland woman has accused Bella Villa's police chief of illegally strip-searching her by photographing her pelvic tattoo after a 2005 arrest. Jami Neco Schmidt, 22, filed a federal suit against Chief Edward Locke...

U.S. Supreme Court will consider 401(k) management suit.
June 19, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case about whether employees who participate in 401(k) plans have the right to sue for breach of fiduciary duty. The case stems from a suit filed in 2004 by a Texas man who...

Missouri death-row inmate requests no death warrant until appeals end.
June 19, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann The attorney for Missouri death-row inmate Michael Taylor have asked the state Supreme Court not to issue a death warrant for her client until he is able to appeal his case to the full 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals...

St. Louis attorney elected as a fellow in American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
June 19, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Alan N. Zvibleman, shareholder in Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan, has been designated and elected as a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The AAML is a selective organization of...

Carolyn Wolff joins St. Louis office of Bryan Cave LLP.
June 19, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Carolyn Wolff has joined the international law firm Bryan Cave LLP in the firm's St. Louis office. Wolff joins Bryan Cave's Employee Benefits Group as of counsel after retiring from Anheuser-Busch...

Bryan Cave LLP recognized by magazine for IT services.
June 19, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Bryan Cave, the international law firm with offices in St. Louis and Kansas City, has been named to CIO magazine's annual CIO 100, a compilation of organizations around the world that exemplify the...

Mound City Bar: Law firms should focus on retention.
June 20, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Retention, not recruitment, is the main issue facing law firms when it comes to diversity in the workplace, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Mound City Bar Association. The report is the final in a series of...

Previous Mound City Bar reports from 2007.
June 20, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Diversity in Missouri Law Schools Report found that local law schools have admitted fewer black students in recent years. Only the Washington University School of Law had posted an increase in its...

American Bar Association president reaffirms support for merit selection.
June 20, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin Karen Mathis, the president of the American Bar Association, has already met with minority law students, the heads of regional bar associations and others on a two-day trip to St. Louis that concludes today. She even...

Commentary: ACLU will help citizens be 'Vigilant'.
June 20, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Cameras are everywhere. They spy on you at shopping malls. They watch and make a record when you run a red light. They even take photos of your house from space. I guess George Orwell was right -- Big Brother is...

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Mo. rules Zoo wins trademark battle.
June 20, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann The St. Louis Zoo may keep ownership of its name. The zoo did not have a formal trademark on its name for most of its nearly 100 years of existence, but a common-law trademark prevents a St. Louis man from using the...

Campaign rules challenge goes to Missouri Supreme Court.
June 21, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka State representative hopeful James Trout is hoping the state Supreme Court will listen favorably this afternoon to his assertion that a Missouri law on campaign finance is unconstitutional. Trout's Supreme Court...

Tow truck driver wants suit filed by Hancock's family in St. Louis Circuit Court to 'go away'.
June 21, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The tow truck driver being sued by the family of Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock is threatening a suit of his own. Jacob E. Hargrove and his attorney, Robert Pedroli, said at a press conference Wednesday that the...

8th Circuit rules Wash Univ. to retain ownership of medical research.
June 21, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann In a unanimous decision described as having national significance for medical research, the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that samples donated for medical research cannot be forcibly removed at the...

Mound City Bar Association study says black attorneys find favor at public agencies.
June 21, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Even hampered by low salaries and a lack of funding, local government agencies post better diversity ratios than private law firms, according to a Mound City Bar Association study released this week. Blacks account...

Missouri Governor Blunt wants to nominate qualified judges who are faithful to the constitution.
June 22, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey and Donna Walter Gov. Matt Blunt, who will get a chance to appoint a justice to the state Supreme Court later this year, told the Federalist Society he wants to nominate qualified judges who were "faithful to the...

Federal court will hear challenge to Valley Park law.
June 22, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The legal battle over Valley Park's illegal immigration ordinances has extended to the federal court level. A suit has been filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, even as the original lawsuit challenging the...

Franklin County judge wants jurors from elsewhere for accused kidnapper Michael Devlin case.
June 22, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann A Franklin County judge has granted a change of venue for accused kidnapper Michael Devlin with an unusual twist - the trial will be held in Franklin County, but the jurors will be brought in from elsewhere. "In accord...

Beer bribe allegations highlight privacy issues.
June 22, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan The criminal mind is a curious thing to consider. Ideas that would never occur to the average person are front and center in the brains of many scofflaws. Take the case of Laron A. Williams. He was charged last week...

Missouri Supreme Court hears challenge to campaign finance law.
June 22, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments in a case relating to ethics. Is "relating to ethics" too vague? It's actually the same description given last year to a bill that overhauled the state's campaign...

St. Louis Probate Court considers videoconferencing.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Psychiatric patients arriving at probate court for their competency hearings might someday appear from the familiar surroundings of their hospitals. A group of psychiatric hospitals have asked the St. Louis Probate...

Missouri's William Hungate, former federal judge, dies at 84.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka William L. Hungate, a former district judge, congressman and jazz singer known for his wit, died at a Chesterfield hospital Friday from complications related to brain surgery. He was 84. Visitation will be today from...

St. Charles attorney seeks third chance for civil case.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann and Heather Cole Saying he was singled out by manipulative St. Charles officials, attorney Eric Tolen will take another swing at reviving his breach of contract lawsuit against the city. The 46-year-old, who faces...

Edward Jones pushes to postpone approval of $127.5M settlement.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Edward Jones says it accidentally left out nearly 300,000 clients when the brokerage sent notices of a proposed $127.5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit. Citing the omission due to "computer programming...

St. Louis attorney Jerome Lefton dies.(Obituary)
June 25, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Report St. Louis attorney Jerome L. T. Lefton passed away last Wednesday from complications related to liver cancer. He practiced law in the workers' compensation field and was a 1962 graduate of Depaul...

U.S. Supreme Court curbs free speech at schools: May have little impact on Mo. schools.
June 26, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann Student free speech rights took a hit from the U.S. Supreme Court Monday, but the court's ruling in an Alaska case might have little impact on Missouri students, according to the attorney for the Missouri School...

N.Y. medical device suit could affect St. Louis case.
June 26, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether patients injured by faulty medical devices can pursue product liability claims against the device manufacturers. A decision would affect numerous lawsuits against...

Lethal injection debate centers locally on Taylor case in Missouri.
June 27, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann The constitutionality of executing prisoners by lethal injection has been challenged nationwide. On Monday, local attorneys will join the chorus when they plan to ask the full 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to hear...

Mo. Supreme Court rules Jackson County wrong venue for McDonald's lawsuits.
June 27, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Two lawsuits against McDonald's franchises in southwest Missouri will not be tried in Jackson County, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday, because restaurant franchisees aren't agents for the "usual and customary...

Mo. Supreme Court approves Social Services changes to support.
June 27, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri Department of Social Services' method for changing child support amounts does not violate state law, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. For attorney and parent Sherrie Hansen, the decision means a...

Commentary: Unclaimed property list a road to riches?
June 27, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Have you ever had the feeling you're about to come into some money? Maybe your palms itch or you have a dream about it. Well, your dreams might come true if your name appears on the state treasurer's list of...

Missouri Supreme Court rules suit against casino may proceed.
June 27, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann At first glance, it might appear that Kansas City osteopath William T. Brown won one case and lost another at the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday. In reality, Harris must be smiling today because the net result is...

St. Louis Building Department says sign must go.
June 28, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The St. Louis Building Department has denied a sign permit for this two-story mural painted on the side of a building on South 13th Street. The mural, which has become a local landmark visible to traffic...

Missouri Gov. Blunt considering Second Injury Fund special session.
June 28, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Gov. Matt Blunt said Wednesday that he might call a special legislative session to address the state's Second Injury Fund after receiving a request this week from Attorney General Jay Nixon. In a letter to Nixon's...

Clayton-based Harbour Group subsidiary sued for harassment.
June 28, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka An industrial company owned by Harbour Group, a privately held investment firm based in Clayton, is being sued for sexual harassment. A female employee still working for Lincoln Industrial Corp. has sued the North...

Missouri Supreme Court rules bill's title was clear.
June 28, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck "Political subdivisions" is a broad term encompassing everything from school boards to cities of millions of people. But it's not too vague to be the title of a state law, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday. The...

Correction.(Correction notice)
June 28, 2007... Byline: Staff report Kansas City osteopath William T. Brown was incorrectly identified in the second paragraph of a Wednesday story about his lawsuit against Harrah's North Kansas City casino. The story ran on page 3.