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

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

Commentary: Lifting the veil.
May 1, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan My father was an attorney, so growing up I had plenty of exposure to lawyers, judges and the legal system. Sometimes during the summer I would tag along with my dad when he had a court appearance or something to file...

A dozen wiretaps authorized in Missouri.
May 1, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The number of wiretaps approved by state and federal courts in 2006 showed a 4 percent increase over those approved the year before, according to a report issued Monday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts....

Missouri Supreme Court upholds abortion law, right to offer counsel.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The Missouri Supreme Court has clarified a law that Planned Parenthood claimed violated the First Amendment rights of teenage girls who seek abortions without parental consent. In a decision Tuesday, the court...

Donald P. Judge Lay dies, served 40 years on 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Donald P. Lay, who served more than 40 years on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, died Sunday at his home in North Oaks, Minn. He was 80. He was appointed to the 8th Circuit by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966...

Mound City Bar Association study finds poll prejudice.
May 3, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Missouri lawyers rated white male judges significantly higher than black female judges in five judicial surveys over the last decade, according to a report released Wednesday by the Mound City Bar Association. In...

Missouri Legal Services fund caught in crossfire over court reporters.
May 3, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A state fund that helps pay for legal services for low-income individuals is being threatened by a fight over what to include in this year's omnibus judiciary bill. The bill, generally meant to include a large number...

Ex-executives sue Federated Department Stores in federal court for severance pay.
May 3, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Three former executives of Federated Department Stores Inc. say the company owes them more than $775,000 in severance pay, and they've gone to court to try to get it. The money represents the wages the company agreed...

St. Louis attorneys will face off in genetically modified organism (GMO) class-action.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Dozens of transferred cases from Louisiana and Texas continue to pour into the St. Louis federal court for a class-action litigation that will pit rice farmers against biotechnology giant Bayer CropScience. Two St....

Breaking: Missouri Public Defender's budget appears set.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Missouri State Public Defender Marty Robinson got an exercise in fractional math Thursday, as members of a legislative conference committee put the final touches on the fiscal year 2008 budget. The committee settled on...

Bar Assn. of Metro St. Louis Annual Law Day activities conclude with LaRussa, awards.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Report St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa will deliver the luncheon address at the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis' Annual Law Day Celebration on Friday, LaRussa, who received his law degree from...

Commentary: Ethics CLEs aren't doing justice to a crucial topic.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Lawyers must deal with ethical questions on a daily basis. Is there a conflict of interest in my representation of this client? Is my client lying? Does my new ad in the Yellow Pages comply with the new advertising...

St. Louis-based Thompson Coburn merging with 40-attorney Chicago firm.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Thompson Coburn is merging with a Chicago firm in a move that will create the law firm's largest office outside the St. Louis area. Thompson Coburn announced Thursday that the firm had signed a letter of intent to...

Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP names John Munich as partner in St. Louis office.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Staff report Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP has added John Munich as a partner to its St. Louis office. Though a resident of St. Louis for the past eight years, John has been a partner in the Atlanta and Washington, D.C., offices of...

Nick H. Varsam joins Armstrong Teasdale LLP as partner.
May 4, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Nick H. Varsam has joined the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale LLP. He joins the firm's Business Services Department as a partner. Varsam concentrates his practice in the areas of securities and finance,...

Former officers plead guilty in beating at Northwoods jail.
May 7, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff In two separate cases, the U.S Attorney's office announced legal action Friday against former law enforcement personnel. In the first case, two former Velda City, Mo., policemen and a former Northwoods,...

Law, baseball have similarities, LaRussa tells Law Day crowd.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa gave the keynote address at the BAMSL Law Day lunch on Friday with little mention of the off-field adversity the team has faced the past week. He made his remarks before the...

ABA's Second Season program offers options for 'retired' lawyers.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Lawyers are a different breed. While those in many other jobs dream of their retirement in terms of playing rounds of golf, taking fishing trips and reading some good books, many lawyers are reluctant to give up the...

Trial preparation, attorney discipline among items on Missouri Supreme Court docket.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments in six local cases this week, including one that weighs a public defender's ethical obligation to request additional time to prepare for trial against a criminal...

Steven J. Foristal joins Armstrong Teasdale LLP as an associate.
May 10, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Steven J. Foristal has joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP as an associate. He is a member of the firm's Corporate Services Group, focusing his practice in the areas of securities, mergers and acquisitions,...

Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC adds new attorneys to St. Louis law office.
May 10, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC has added several new attorneys to its St. Louis law office. Laura A. Krebs Al-Shathir joined the firm as an associate in the Corporate and Tax practice groups, assisting...

In-house counsel at U.S. corporations call first-year salaries 'outrageous'.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter and Carlyn Kolker Top in-house lawyers at U.S. corporations responded negatively to recent law firm salary increases, according to a survey by legal management consultant Altman Weil Inc. The median first-year associate...

Lender faces housing suit.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Staff and Bloomberg News NovaStar Financial Inc., the Kansas City, Mo.-based subprime lender that is seeking a buyer, denied mortgages to minorities for row houses and on tribal reservations, according to a civil rights group's...

Commentary: Missouri can cash in on Hilton-style jails.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Every day, thousands of people are sentenced to spend some time in local jails across the country. Whether they have been sentenced to 30 days for driving under the influence or three days for not paying some traffic...

Missouri politics take center stage in U.S. attorney saga.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Todd Graves left his post as U.S. attorney for Western Missouri because he felt he was not "part of the team" and not because of a controversy over the state's license fee office, he said in an interview with The...

Missouri school seeks to dismiss attorney's sexual-abuse claim for 1985 incident.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka An attorney for St. John Vianney High School urged a St. Louis County judge Thursday to dismiss a suit brought against the school by a former student and current lawyer who claims a priest sexually abused in him in...

Child-pornography program lands Missouri man in prison.
May 11, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff St. Peters resident Brian Buehrle was sentenced to 88 months in prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced Thursday. On June 26, 2006, officers from the St....

Child-pornography program lands St. Peters man in prison.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Staff report St. Peters resident Brian Buehrle was sentenced to 88 months in prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced Thursday. On June 26, 2006, officers from the St. Charles County...

St. Louis lawyer attempting to revive Phillip Morris lawsuit.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann In sports, errors by game officials often are reversed in the name of fair play. A St. Louis lawyer is asking the Illinois 5th District Appellate Court whether that kind of instant replay applies to apparent errors in...

Missouri's Second Injury Fund may not be changed this year.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck As the legislative session enters its final week, groups on both sides of the state's Second Injury Fund debate are waiting to see what changes, if any, are in store. Groups as diverse as trial lawyers, labor unions and...

Shell settles with EPA on St. Louis cleanup.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A settlement between Shell Oil Co. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been approved by Judge E. Richard Webber of the St. Louis-based federal court. In the settlement, the parties agreed Shell would pay...

Jay A. Nathanson joins Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Staff report Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC has hired Jay A. Nathanson as an officer in the Corporate and Tax Practice Groups. Nathanson works with clients in corporate and business tax planning, mergers and acquisitions, corporate...

Marilyn E. Nathanson joins Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC.
May 14, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Marilyn E. Nathanson has joined Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC as an officer in the Corporate Practice Group. She works with clients in the fields of franchise and distribution and corporate law....

Amy K. Shasserre joins Behr, McCarter & Potter.
May 14, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Amy K. Shasserre has joined the law firm of Behr, McCarter & Potter. Her practice is concentrated in the areas of professional negligence defense and civil litigation. Shasserre is a 1995 graduate of...

Michael Anslinger joins Armstrong Teasdale LLP.
May 14, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Michael Anslinger has joined the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale LLP as an associate. He is a member of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group and focuses his practice primarily on patent...

Professional women in Mo. finding alternative ways to network.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey When it comes to networking, good ol' boy activities --such as heading to the golf course -- are out, and wine tasting, shopping and hand treatments are in. Carol Clark, attorney with Black & Vetch, said she didn't...

Missouri Bar Assn. may bump up dues and fees.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Members of the Missouri bar may be asked to hand over at least $70 more in annual dues if a fee hike is approved by the bar and the state Supreme Court later this year. The increase, which would be effective Nov. 1,...

Bar may bump up dues and fees.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Members of the Missouri bar may be asked to hand over at least $70 more in annual dues if a fee hike is approved by the bar and the state Supreme Court later this year. The increase, which would be effective Nov. 1,...

Westmoreland joins St. Louis law office of Husch & Eppenberger LLC.
May 16, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Husch & Eppenberger LLC has hired John W. Westmoreland as a member of the firm's Business Transactions Practice Group. Westmoreland specializes in tax matters involving the federal, state and...

St Louis attorney earns Accredited Estate Planner designation.
May 16, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Nancy J. Dilley, a partner at the law firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman and pro bono president of the Estate Planning Council of St. Louis, has earned an Accredited Estate Planner designation, a graduate...

Web site created for potential plaintiffs in lawsuit against Ameristar Casino in St. Charles.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Staff report Seven disgruntled gamblers who filed suit in March against Ameristar Casino in St. Charles announced Monday a Web site potential claimants can use to sign up for the $150 million in damages sought by the suit. Anyone...

Commentary: Legislators: Read first, then vote.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan The closing weeks of the legislative session can be a wild ride. Groups and individuals attempt to influence legislators to add something to a bill or take something away. Senate and House members come together to...

Linkage holding down pay for federal judges.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Twenty years ago Congress linked its members salaries to those of federal district judges with the hope that the public wouldn't mind so much when Congress approved salary increases. But faced with voter hostility,...

City of Berkeley wins suit with its former attorney.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The former city attorney of Berkeley lost the latest - and final? - round in his battle with the city over its decision to fire him in 1999. On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court, 7-1, reversed a lower court's...

Nonprofit organization reports that Missouri is neglecting courthouses.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Historic courthouses across Missouri were declared "endangered," for the second year in a row by the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit that advocates for the preservation of historic structures...

Missouri House passes backup abortion law.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to deal soon with a 1998 Missouri law banning so-called partial-birth abortions. But just in case that decision takes a while, the state may put a backup version on the...

Margrabe joins Spoeneman, Watkins, Waltrip & Harvell in St. Louis.
May 16, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Andrew Margrabe has joined Spoeneman, Watkins, Waltrip & Harvell as an associate. Margrabe, who started at the firm in January, will focus on litigation in the areas of real estate and criminal defense...

Missouri voter fraud cases proceed along with attorney probe.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann Many of the cases of alleged voter fraud in Missouri -- which have become entangled in the congressional investigation into the firing of U.S. attorneys -- are still working their way through the court system. The...

Missouri AG office dodges contempt claim in child-support case.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Attorney Sherrie Hansen was startled earlier this month to get a notice from the Missouri Department of Social Services announcing an upcoming hearing date for a change in her child support. The May 2 letter was a...

Commentary: Courts need your views about pro se.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan You've spent the past seven years going to college. You decide to specialize in family law and hang up your shingle as a solo practitioner. Business is slow at first, but word gets around and the clients start...

Federal courts consider motions in Bible distribution case.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Competing motions for summary judgment are vying for Judge Catherine D. Perry's attention in a case between a southeastern Missouri school district and community members over the distribution of Bibles to students. At...

Missouri law firm's CEO may have been forced out.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole A controversy over workplace conduct may explain former chief executive Tom Stewart's resignation from the firm, Missouri Lawyers Weekly has learned. Stewart, who had been on a sabbatical, officially left the firm and...

Missouri House tries to kill Judicial Conference.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck In a session full of tensions between the Legislature and the judiciary, it was unlikely that a massive bill full of judiciary-related items could pass through the Missouri House without comment. The House considered a...

Missouri's first and only black Supreme Court justice retires.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck White announces retirement from bench By Scott Lauck scott.lauck@molawyersmedia.com Ronnie L. White, the first and only black member of the Missouri Supreme Court, announced his retirement from the bench Friday...

White's retirement prompts questions about replacement.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Ronnie L. White, the first and only black member of the Missouri Supreme Court, announced his retirement from the bench Friday afternoon. White's departure, scheduled for July 6, marks the end of a judicial career that...

Selection process: the Missouri Supeme Court.
May 21, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Judges for the Supreme Court and the appellate courts are chosen by the state's Appellate Judicial Commission, a seven-member board comprising three lawyers, three non-lawyers and the Chief Justice of...

City of Clayton warns court against legislating.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka St. Louis municipalities would wither and die without the power of eminent domain, the city of Clayton argued in an amicus brief submitted to the Missouri Supreme Court. Clayton's stake in an eminent domain battle...

St. Louis lawyers remember those lost.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka

St. Louis lawyers remember those lost.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Members of the St. Louis legal community paused Friday afternoon to honor the 46 lawyers and judges who died in 2006. Scott Kolker, at left, president-elect of the Lawyers Association, read aloud the names of the...

17-year-olds to remain adults.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A bill making 17-year-olds subject to the juvenile courts for truancy, running away from home and other so-called status offenses died late Thursday after a lengthy fight in the Missouri House. Under current state law,...

State of Missouri will not pursue criminal charges in Taum Sauk reservoir collapse.
May 21, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The state will not pursue criminal charges related to the collapse of the Taum Sauk reservoir, Attorney General Jay Nixon announced on Friday after a meeting with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and...

Missouri Legal Services bill squeaks by.
May 21, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff A bill to allow legal aid groups in Missouri to continue receiving state funding passed in the final hours of the legislative session and is headed to the governor's desk. The bill extends the sunset...

Antitrust decision being eyed in biotech case in St. Louis.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The U.S. Supreme Court's Monday decision clearing several telecom companies of antitrust allegations may have some resonance in St. Louis. The U.S. District Court here is the host venue for a class-action antitrust...

Play a little, learn a lot.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann Both the Missouri Bar and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) have events in the next few weeks to fill the slow days of almost summer with useful information - and a bit of fun as well. Here's a...

U.S. Supreme Court dismisses death sentence in case in St. Louis County.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a St. Louis County death penalty from 1987 concerning whether the prosecutor's remarks during the death penalty phase of the case had unfairly inflamed jurors. In an unsigned...

St. Louis district defender steps down quietly.
May 22, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin The Missouri State Public Defender system isn't saying much about the departure last week of its district defender in St. Louis. For that matter, neither is he. Eric Affholter, who held the district's top post for...

Greenbaum nominated president of Jewish Federation of St. Louis.
May 22, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Attorney Sheila Greenbaum has been nominated the 37th president of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. Greenbaum will be elected and installed in September at the federation's annual meeting. Greenbaum,...

White joins law firm of Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal in Clayton.
May 22, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal has added Michelle L. White as an attorney. White's primary areas of practice include civil and commercial litigation, insurance defense, public entity defense, personal...

Brown joins law office of Evans & Dixon in St. Louis.
May 22, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Susan L. Brown has joined the civil defense practice group of Evans & Dixon as an associate. Brown is licensed to practice in Missouri. She brings case experience in amputations, assaults/violent acts,...

Stinson Morrison adds 39 attorneys in St. Louis merger.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole For the second time this year, a Kansas City law firm is growing by adding a smaller St. Louis firm. Kansas City-based Stinson Morrison Hecker announced on Monday its upcoming merger with St. Louis firm Blumenfeld...

Commentary: Supreme pick needs to be non-partisan.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan The retirement of Judge Ronnie White from the Missouri Supreme Court comes at a divisive time in the state's judicial history. Several bills were considered by the Missouri Legislature during this past session that...

Missouri Public Defender's Office wins stay over client's objection.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka In a nod to the limited resources and strapped staff attorneys of the Missouri Public Defender's Office, the state Supreme Court issued a permanent writ Tuesday on one of the office's death penalty cases. Public...

Missouri seen as front lines in judicial war.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A political battleground state, Missouri may now be on the frontier of the next war against the courts, according to a new national study. The study was produced by Justice at Stake Campaign and its partners, the...

Missouri's new eminent domain law faces first Supreme challenge.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A redevelopment case on a judicial fast track offered the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday its first chance to review eminent domain reforms passed by last year's Legislature. The case pits properties in one of...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 24, 2007... Stinson Morrison Hecker is adding 39 Blumenfeld Kaplan & Sandweiss attorneys in a merger. The move, announced Tuesday, means Stinson will become the second Kansas City firm to grow in St. Louis by adding attorneys from Blumenfeld. The...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 24, 2007... Byline: Staff report Stinson Morrison Hecker is adding 39 Blumenfeld Kaplan & Sandweiss attorneys. The move, announced Tuesday, means Stinson will become the second Kansas City firm to grow in St. Louis by adding attorneys from Blumenfeld....

American Equity Mortgage asks St. Louis-based federal court to dismiss suit.
May 24, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A federal trademark lawsuit between American Equity Mortgage and Vinson Mortgage may be at an end. On Monday, American Mortgage Equity filed a motion in the St. Louis-based federal court to dismiss without prejudice...

U.S. Attorney Todd Graves' testimony prompts fraud, fee-office queries.
May 24, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Questions of voter fraud and fee-office favors top the list of what the Senate Judiciary Committee should ask former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves next month, according to local politicians and attorneys. One former...

Arnold loses eminent domain case over dental practice.
May 25, 2007... Byline: Cathy Kingsley The tide may be turning in favor of property owners in eminent domain cases. First the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, determined that three properties in Clayton that developer Centene Corp. tried to...

Commentary: Civics is not just for the classroom.
May 25, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Do you know how many years there are in the term of a U.S. senator or who becomes president if the president and vice president die? If you paid attention in civics class you can answer these questions and that helps...

Family of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock sues Shannon's in St. Louis.
May 25, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The family of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock filed a wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday against Mike Shannon's Steak and Seafood, manager Patricia Shannon Van Matre and several other defendants the family says...

County filings halted for computer changeover.
May 29, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Starting today, attorneys will encounter St. Louis County Circuit Court staff tied up in a weeklong technology transition that will halt filings and pile up extra work when the system goes back online. On that day,...

Dram shop attorneys see struggle for Hancock family.
May 29, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Lawyers representing the family of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock are fighting an uphill battle in their lawsuit against Mike Shannon's Steak and Seafood, according to area lawyers familiar with Missouri's dram shop...

Missouri Supreme Court OKs bargaining for public staff.
May 30, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The Missouri Supreme Court reversed a 60-year-old ruling in granting public workers the right to bargain collectively with employers on Tuesday. The ruling for three employee associations, which sued the...

Illinois courts' jurisdiction doesn't extend across river, even if marketing does.
May 30, 2007... Byline: James Goodwin Illinois courts can't exercise jurisdiction over a St. Louis-area orthopedic center based on its marketing to Eastside residents, the Illinois Appellate Court ruled last month. The April 24 decision arises from a 2002...