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

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

Anna Nicole's bumbled will: a probate professor's dream.
March 1, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith on the floor of a South Florida casino last month unleashed a wave of paternity claims and legal fights over custody of Smith's infant daughter, her estate and her own bodily...

Gov. Blunt appoints St. Louisan to Appellate Judicial Commission.
March 1, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Gov. Matt Blunt on Wednesday announced the appointment of St. Louis resident Donald L. Ross to the Appellate Judicial Commission. "Mr. Ross is committed to protecting our constitution by selecting judges who understand...

Dr. Joseph Parks named director of Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services.
March 1, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Dr. Joseph Parks, was named as the director of the Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services, within the Missouri Department of Mental Health. Parks is currently the medical director for the...

New hires announced for Citizens NationalBank.
March 1, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Citizens NationalBank has appointed new community directors to two of its bank branches. David Nothum has been named the community director of the South County Banking Center. He is the owner of two...

Geotechnology Inc. wins design award.
March 1, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Geotechnology Inc., a provider of consulting services in geotechnical and environmental engineering, materials testing and drilling, won a Grand Award from the American Council of Engineering...

St. Louis home builder relocates.
March 1, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff St. Louis home builder Rolwes Co. has relocated to new offices at 2705 Dougherty Ferry Road, Suite 101, in St. Louis, Mo. 63122. The telephone number remains (314) 821-9600.

Missouri Public Defender Commission could be nation's first to close system to new indigent clients.
March 2, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck If the Missouri Public Defender Commission votes this morning to close its system to new indigent clients, it would be first in the nation to take such a drastic step. And what happens next is anyone's guess. According...

Legislative measure attacks Missouri Supreme Court's power to impeach state officials.
March 2, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Supreme Court would no longer be in charge of trying impeachments of state officials under a proposed constitutional amendment working its way through the Missouri House. The resolution, heard in a House...

St. Louis city attorney denies Valley Park mayor wants Hispanics out.
March 2, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The city attorney for Valley Park denied the city's ordinances against hiring or renting to illegal aliens are a plan hatched by the mayor to keep Hispanic immigrants out of the town. The statements came Thursday...

Missouri attorney Michael Chivell takes the helm of Armstrong Teasdale after a year of major growth.
March 2, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Corporate transactional attorney Michael Chivell is taking the helm of Armstrong Teasdale as the St. Louis firm comes off a year of major growth. Chivell, 53, succeeded Richard Scherrer as managing partner of the law...

Missouri legislators use big headline stories to capitalize on the public's outrage.
March 2, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Many times a big news story will inspire a state representative or senator to file a bill addressing some concern related to the story. These bills are quickly put together to capitalize on the public's outrage about...

The John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2007 would aid public defender system.
March 2, 2007... Byline: Karen J. Mathis A bill introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) provides a winning solution for all of us concerned that low wages paid prosecutors and public defenders, along with the high cost of law school, are undermining...

St. Louis historians, lawyers gather to discuss Dred Scott's legacy.
March 3, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Events to mark the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision got under way last week with Washington University School of Law's two-day symposium on Friday and Saturday titled "The Dred Scott...

Missouri Public Defender showdown averted.
March 3, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Public Defender Commission on Friday backed off a plan to close the state public defender's office to new cases, saying it wanted to give the state Legislature more time to solve the system's caseload...

Public defender showdown averted.
March 3, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Public Defender Commission on Friday backed off a plan to close the state public defender's office to new cases, saying it wanted to give the state Legislature more time to solve the system's caseload...

Kansas City serial killer case presents challenge.
March 3, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Lorenzo Gilyard continues to claim his innocence. And beginning today the man accused of being one of Missouri's worst serial killers will attempt to disprove significant DNA evidence against him. Gilyard will...

Broderick Johnson joins Bryan Cave Strategies LLC.
March 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Broderick Johnson has joined as president of Bryan Cave Strategies LLC and of counsel to Bryan Cave LLP. Johnson comes to Bryan Cave with more than two decades of public policy and law experience. From...

Kim Allen joins Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.
March 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Kim Allen has joined Legal Services of Eastern Missouri as a staff attorney for the Immigration Law Project, a unit that represents clients on a variety of issues including naturalization, family...

John H. Quinn III elected to serve on Friends of the Sheldon board.
March 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff In a recent special election, the Friends of the Sheldon elected Armstrong Teasdale LLP partner, John H. Quinn III, to serve on the Board of Directors. The Friends of the Sheldon support The Sheldon...

U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton from Missouri remembered through stories of friends, allies.
March 6, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Joseph J. Simeone met Thomas Eagleton, who died Sunday, in the mid-1950s when Eagleton was a candidate for St. Louis circuit attorney and Simeone was a law professor at Saint Louis...

As activism increases, pro bono attorneys defend the protesters.
March 6, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Attorney William T. Quick became active in his assistance to the anti-war movement on Good Friday in 2002. His wife was among his first clients. Diane Lee asked her husband to come along as a legal observer to a...

St. Louis judge grants class action certification against hospitals.
March 6, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Thousands of uninsured patients could potentially join a lawsuit against Barnes Jewish Christian HealthCare after a St. Louis judge approved class certification in the matter on Monday. The suit is going...

Federalist Society finds Missouri voters want more say on judges.
March 7, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A poll sponsored by a conservative legal group finds that Missouri voters, while knowing little about the state's court system, would like to have more say in the selection of judges. According to the poll, released...

Lawyers for man convicted of killing wife in St. Louis County court asks for acquittal, new trial.
March 7, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Lawyers for a man convicted last month of shooting his wife to death inside the St. Louis County Circuit Court have filed a motion for an acquittal or a new trial. A jury on Feb. 6 recommended that Kenneth Baumruk, 67,...

Kionka joins St. Louis-based Evans & Dixon LLC.
March 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Debra A. Kionka has joined the workers' compensation practice group of Evans & Dixon LLC as a senior associate. Kionka is licensed to practice in Illinois. Prior to joining Evans & Dixon, she worked as...

Johnson joins St. Louis-based Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP.
March 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Reginald C. Johnson has joined the Labor and Employment department of Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP as of counsel. He exclusively represents management and employers. Johnson has successfully defended...

Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri honors Banks.
March 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Eric Kendall Banks was recently awarded the Reverend Arnold and Mildred Bringewatt Social Justice Award by Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri. The Bringewatt Award honors individuals...

City or county? St. Louis judges debate proper venue.
March 8, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka One element of 2005's tort reform statutes was argued Wednesday in the state Supreme Court for a St. Louis man who brought a personal injury lawsuit against a dozen makers of chemicals he was exposed to on the job....

Religion, law intersect at St. Louis seminar.
March 8, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Report The legal aspects of religious life will be the focus of a three-day seminar this week in St. Louis. Sponsored by the Legal Resource Center for Religious, a Silver Spring, Md.-based group that...

Missouri Supreme Court hears child support debate.
March 8, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Lawyers on both sides of the child support modification issue battled for leverage Wednesday morning in the state Supreme Court. At issue is whether the current system puts too much power in the hands of the...

Grand jury indicts officers of Islamic charity in Missouri.
March 8, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Report A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a former Columbia-based organization and five of its officers for illegally transferring money to Iraq. The Islamic American Relief Agency, formerly...

Missouri bar officials say proposed constitutional amendment goes too far.
March 9, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A proposed constitutional amendment goes too far in defending the Legislature's power of the purse, bar officials said Thursday. The Missouri Bar held a press conference at its headquarters in Jefferson City a few days...

Daniel T. Rabbitt chosen for Award of Honor by the Lawyer Association of St. Louis.
March 9, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka A still-busy trial attorney with more than three decades of legal experience was selected to receive the Award of Honor by the Lawyers Association of St. Louis. Daniel T. Rabbitt, founding principal of Rabbitt, Pitzer...

Missouri Governor Blunt makes appointment to local judicial commission.
March 9, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt earlier this week announced the appointments of several members who will serve on state circuit judicial commissions. Blunt selected Robert P. Dudley, 59 of Eureka, president of...

Critics say Linda Greenhouse is the poster girl for the media.
March 9, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Linda Greenhouse may know the inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court better than most of the current justices. Since 1978, she has been the Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times for all but two years...

Robert J. Blackwell named 2006 Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyer.
March 10, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, a magazine for attorneys, has named Robert J. Blackwell as a 2006 Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyer. Blackwell is a principal at the law firm of Blackwell & Associates in...

St. Louis atty. Eric Vickers' law license may be reinstated.
March 12, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole While Eric Vickers was making the news last week as the spokesman for a coalition of minority groups threatening to shut down a St. Louis construction project, he also was moving closer to having his law license...

Missouri high court stays salvage yard condemnation case.
March 12, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The Missouri Supreme Court has stayed the condemnation proceedings against a 78-year-old woman who runs Henderson's Salvage Yard in downtown St. Louis. The order, handed down Feb. 27, gives St. Louis Circuit Judge...

Attorneys discover new tools to show clients' brain injuries in courtrooms.
March 12, 2007... Byline: Bridget Heos Attorney Chris Wright was representing a client in a medical negligence case in Kansas City. A perforation of the woman's bowel had led to blood clots and strokes. The defense argued that the plaintiff had since...

Eight from Husch & Eppenberger St. Louis office on Best of the U.S. list.
March 12, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Husch & Eppenberger LLC has announced the attorneys in its St. Louis office who have been selected as members of the 2007 "Best of the U. S." list. The Best of the U.S. represents 120 professions and...

St. Louis native Nicholas B. Clifford Jr. joins Armstrong Teasdale LLP.
March 12, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Armstrong Teasdale LLP has announced the hiring of prominent intellectual property trial lawyer, Nicholas B. Clifford Jr., formerly with Thompson Coburn LLP. Clifford joins the firm's Litigation...

Robert J. Blackwell named 2006 Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyer.
March 12, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, a magazine for attorneys, has named Robert J. Blackwell as a 2006 Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyer. Blackwell is a principal at the law firm of Blackwell & Associates in...

J. Bennett Clark joins Bryan Cave's St. Louis office.
March 12, 2007... Byline: Staff report Bryan Cave LLP has announced that J. Bennett Clark has joined the firm as a partner in its St. Louis office. He joins Bryan Cave from a St. Louis intellectual property boutique where he served as the chair of the...

Newsmakers: J. Bennett Clark.
March 12, 2007... Byline: Staff report Bryan Cave LLP has announced that J. Bennett Clark has joined the firm as a partner in its St. Louis office. He joins Bryan Cave from a St. Louis intellectual property boutique where he served as the chair of the...

Budget plan omits public defender relief in Missouri.
March 13, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Despite unusually intense legislative interest on the need for caseload relief in the Missouri State Public Defender's Office, the House's first draft of next year's state budget includes no extra money to hire more...

St. Louis-based Greensfelder Hemker & Gale bolsters staff with six attorneys.
March 13, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Greensfelder Hemker & Gale made immediate progress on its goal of growing by 55 attorneys in the next five years with the addition of half a dozen lawyers. The six were hired from two Clayton firms with fewer than 50...

Valley Park plaintiffs seek new court battle.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The legal team that took Valley Park's city ordinances to court and won a favorable ruling Tuesday afternoon is not leaving any legal ambiguities to chance. There are already plans to file an entirely new lawsuit in...

Missouri Legal Obituaries: March 14, 2007.(Obituary)
March 14, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Last week, the St. Louis legal community lost two memorable gentlemen named Tom. One you knew of. Sen. Thomas Eagleton's death made headlines around the nation. He was eulogized on Saturday as a great statesman,...

Sen. Bartle vows vote on revised court measure in Missouri.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A Senate committee on Monday expressed grave concerns about a proposed constitutional amendment that would restrict state courts' jurisdiction over taxation and spending. However, the committee's chairman said a revised...

J. Bennett Clark joins St. Louis office of Bryan Cave LLP.
March 14, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Bryan Cave LLP has announced J. Bennett Clark has joined the firm as a partner in its St. Louis office. Clark, an intellectual property litigator, joins Bryan Cave from a St. Louis intellectual property...

Cali joins St. Louis office of RGL - Forensic Accountants & Consultants.
March 14, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff James J. Cali, CPA, has joined RGL - Forensic Accountants & Consultants as a manager in the firm's St. Louis office. Cali has more than 20 years accounting experience, including financial audits,...

Four attorneys join St. Louis-based Simon Passanante PC.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Staff report Simon Passanante PC has announced four lawyers have joined the trial firm. The newly added attorneys will practice in the areas of toxic torts, products liability, and commercial litigation. The new attorneys are...

Centene project in Clayton to begin despite lawsuit.
March 15, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka St. Louis-based healthcare company Centene Corp. said Tuesday it is moving ahead with plans for a $210 million redevelopment project in downtown Clayton - and at a rapid pace. Construction will begin this summer on a...

Missouri Senate considers ending Second Injury Fund.
March 15, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A Missouri Senate committee on Tuesday began taking a hard look at the state's Second Injury Fund, seeking to reduce its payouts or end it altogether. "Our fund will go insolvent very soon, maybe as soon as next year,...

Cardinals sue St. Louis man over baseball novelties.
March 15, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A St. Louis man already in litigation over his products faces a new suit from the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals organization on Friday filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court against Douglas J....

Letter to the editor: Diversity Act is anti-intellectual.(Letter to the editor)
March 15, 2007... Byline: Patricia P. Brodsky The Emily Brooker Intellectual Diversity Act, HB 213, is scheduled for a vote this week by the full Missouri House. The Act claims it is necessary in order to defend academic freedom and viewpoint diversity in...

Clayton, Mo. attorney sues H&R Block for $50M.
March 16, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A Clayton attorney is suing H&R Block, alleging the company maliciously prosecuted a lawsuit against him and a debt collector client. The plaintiff, attorney Jay R. Burns Jr., is seeking $50 million in punitive...

Commentary: Congress takes a step towards restoring openness and transparency in government.
March 16, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan As Sunshine Week 2007 winds down, my head is still awhirl from all that has taken place. It seems March Madness is not just about college basketball any more. For those who may not know, Sunshine Week is an annual...

Missouri-based Simon Passanante PC adds four lawyers.
March 16, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Simon Passanante PC has announced four lawyers have joined the trial firm. The newly added attorneys will practice in the areas of toxic torts, products liability, and commercial litigation. The new...

Thomas H. Mug to be the speaker at the 2007 Employee Ownership Conference.
March 16, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Thomas H. Mug, an attorney with the law firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, will be an expert speaker at the 2007 Employee Ownership Conference hosted by The National Center for Employee Ownership and The...

Commentary: Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives clarifies Senior Tax Justice Act.
March 16, 2007... Byline: Rod Jetton After reading several criticisms from opponents attacking the Senior Tax Justice Act, HB 444, I think it is necessary to make some clarifications. It's hard for me to understand how anyone could oppose a plan to bring...

McCaskill, Hermeling and Vaughan to receive honors from Missouri Lawyers Media.
March 19, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Sen. Claire McCaskill, Carrie Hermeling and Kayla Vaughan will be honored next month by Missouri Lawyers Media at the annual St. Louis Daily Record Women's Justice Awards. Susan E. Block, partner at Paule, Camazine &...

More awards: Mo. Governor Blunt helps recognize prosecutor's staff.
March 19, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Jeannette P. Graviss was honored Friday with the circuit attorney's 2006 Excellence in Prosecution Award for prosecuting a man who shot a St. Louis police officer. Gov. Matt Blunt joined Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce...

Bong Hits 4 Jesus: St. Louis officials hope case will clarify rules.
March 20, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann A day after St. Louis students expressed themselves by concluding a sit-in at St. Louis City Hall, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a case that could set a new standard in how free students are to...

Former SBC lawyer heads to small firm in Shrewsberry.
March 20, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Bob Lynch spent 25 years at the top of the legal food chain in one of America's largest telecommunications companies, breathing the "rarified atmosphere" of the corporate boardroom. Now he's one of a handful of lawyers...

Baumruk gets death again for killing his wife, wounding four others in St. Louis court room.
March 20, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Kenneth Baumruk has again been sentenced to death for the 1992 rampage in a St. Louis County courtroom where he shot and killed his wife and wounded four others. Judge Lucy D. Rauch pronounced the...

Harold Satz, retired Missouri Court of Appeals judge, dies.
March 20, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Judge Harold Satz, who retired from the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District bench in 1992 died on Sunday of complications from cancer. Satz was on the appellate bench for 14 years after serving...

Missouri Supreme Court rules murder attempt wouldn't cancel support terms.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Nonmodifiable means nonmodifiable, said the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday, putting a stop to an ex-husband's efforts to end his maintenance obligation because, the husband alleged, his ex-wife wanted to have him...

Gamblers files suit against the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Seven disgruntled gamblers filed suit Tuesday against Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, alleging the casino secretly changed its awards program and cheated them out of money. Patricia Raster's complaint against...

Commentary: Shield laws protect more than media.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan If anyone wanted to know my sources for this column, I have little legal protection from having to divulge them in court. Not that my sources are all that secret or anonymous, but there are principles to consider....

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules businesses don't have to cover contraceptives.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not give female employees the right to insurance coverage for contraceptives because they are used to prevent pregnancy, said the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1...

Man seeks $500M, abolishment of Missouri Bar.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick In a lawsuit against Missouri, a Kansas City man accused The Missouri Bar of carrying out a criminal plot against the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiff, Denny R. Hardin, called for the abolishment of the bar and...

Oath refusal gets case transferred to Missouri Supreme Court.
March 22, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A St. Louis County judge refused to allow a criminal defendant to testify on his own behalf after the defendant stated he wouldn't take any form of oath or swear to tell the truth under the penalty for perjury. Now the...

Missouri appeals court orders retrial in murder case.
March 22, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka A Missouri appeals court decision reprimanded the actions of state prosecutors during the trial of a man accused of involvement in the 2003 Des Peres murder of his daughter's abusive husband. Prosecutors were wrong to...

Robert M. Lynch joins law firm of DeVoto & Benbenek LLC as "of counsel".
March 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Robert M. Lynch has joined the law firm of DeVoto & Benbenek LLC as "of counsel." Lynch will work closely with the firm's partners, Tom DeVoto and Bob Benbenek, on cases with legal issues in which he...

Brian C. Behrens and David P. Stoeberl join law firm of Carmody MacDonald.
March 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Carmody MacDonald announced that Brian C. Behrens and David P. Stoeberl have joined the firm. Behrens has joined Carmody MacDonald PC as a principal, concentrating his practice in the areas of corporate...

Lisa D. McLaughlin joins St. Louis office of Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC.
March 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC is pleased to announce the addition of shareholder Lisa D. McLaughlin to the firm's St. Louis office. McLaughlin is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and...

Private golf courses in St. Louis County now classified as residential.
March 23, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Nine private golf courses in St. Louis County have been improperly taxed as commercial properties since 2003, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The courses, which included Old Warson Country Club and St. Louis...

St. Louis Bar Foundation to honor attorneys Salsich, Weiss, Vatterott.
March 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The St. Louis Bar Foundation will honor attorneys Peter W. Salsich Jr. and Charles A. Weiss with The Foundation Award and entrepreneur John C. Vatterott with the Community Leadership Award at the...

Private courses now classified as residential.
March 23, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Nine private golf courses in St. Louis County have been improperly taxed as commercial properties since 2003, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The courses, which included Old Warson Country Club and St. Louis Country...

Missouri Supreme Court grants new trial over missing witness.
March 23, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey A Popular Bluff man convicted of second-degree drug trafficking won his appeal Tuesday in the Missouri Supreme Court based on his claim that he didn't have the chance to confront an expert witness during his trial....

Commentary: Spring arrives with tissues, bad fashion and sports.
March 23, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Spring officially arrived on Tuesday and, as if by magic, the grass turned green, flowers bloomed and sneezing was heard throughout the land. Yes, it's springtime in St. Louis. Not only do some consider our town one...

Thomas E. Nutter joins law firm of Armstrong Teasdale as a partner.
March 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Thomas E. Nutter has joined the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale as a partner in its Intellectual Property Practice. Nutter covers a broad range of intellectual property areas, including trademark...

Michael C. Drone joins Spoeneman, Watkins, Waltrip & Harvell law firm.
March 23, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Spoeneman, Watkins, Waltrip & Harvell announced that Michael C. Drone has joined the firm as an associate. Drone will represent clients in handling business and personal litigation matters.