Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) articles from April 2006

Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) archives from April 2006

Lawyers fighting back against the recording industry.
April 1, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson Nobody likes to take on a losing battle. But for a handful of lawyers across the country, defending consumers sued by the music industry for illegal downloading has become more than just a case - it's a cause....

MO Chamber of Commerce says new tort system good for business.
April 1, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright The U.S. Chamber of Commerce eagerly recognized on Monday the headway Missouri made for the business climate in passing its comprehensive tort reform bill last spring. Despite the usual lag in perception, Missouri...

Commentary: Nobody ever went broke overestimating gullibility.
April 1, 2006... Byline: Mike Boyd When are people going to figure out that solicitations promising mega-riches aren't worth the paper they're printed on? If the latest news from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is any indication, not any time soon....

Spouse's objection to search trumps other's consent, U.S. Supreme Court says.
April 1, 2006... Byline: David Ziemer Where one spouse consents to search of a home, but the other spouse objects, the objection trumps the consent. The U.S. Supreme Court on March 22 abrogated a host of holdings by U.S. Circuit Courts and state supreme...

How to...Choose a commercial real estate broker.
April 1, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Leasing, purchasing or building space for your business is a huge undertaking. Considering the amount of money involved and the effect location and facilities will have on nearly every aspect of your company,...

How to handle public relations disasters.
April 2, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik When word got out in the early 1990s that an employee of a Long Island company stole money from a client, rather than let speculation fill a vacuum, the firm fired off a terse statement. The company said it had...

Workers in high-stress jobs often find their own solutions.
April 2, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik During nearly 20 years as a hard-charging Wall Street trader, Bob Mittleman moved millions of dollars each day, watching stocks rise and fall. He also saw brokers fly off the handle when a trade went south, tearing...

COA finds MO Merchandising Practices Act applies retroactively in real estate case.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan The Western District Court of Appeals put a bank back on the hook for additional damages and fees when it declared the buyer had the right to assert claims under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. The...

COA finds MPA applies retroactively in real estate case.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan The Western District Court of Appeals put a bank back on the hook for additional damages and fees when it declared the buyer had the right to assert claims under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. The...

'Webinars': Taking some time, travel and expense out of legal seminars.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Dick Dahl Many law firms have come to realize that legal seminars for existing and potential clients can be excellent business-development tools. But the sheer physical logistics of attending seminars - travel, time and expense -...

Firing employees has best practices and procedures.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik After developing the art of the deal, Donald Trump may have fine-tuned the art of dismissal. He stares ahead in a board room and with a targeted precision issues a decision to send an employee packing. It's over...

Commentary: Your favorite club in the bag - the putter.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Joe Rahnis For some reason, golf fans and some members of the golf media like to ask professional golfers what their favorite club is. It's kind of a silly question, but pros have a variety of responses for this common inquiry. ...

Western District Court of Appeals finds no problem with ballot issue summary.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Judges in the Western District Court of Appeals likely had to dust off their science books to determine that a ballot initiative regarding stem cell research may be put to voters in November. The court had to...

Kansas City Municipal Court audit reports errors.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick An audit of the Kansas City Municipal Division released last week identifies a number of problems. The audit, performed by Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill, shows that some offenders are released from...

Hard-fought win for Kansas City defense team in Jasper Co. fen-phen lawsuit.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Natalie White (This article was originally published in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, another Dolan Media publication.)In a hard-fought defense win that Wyeth hopes will help turn the fen-phen lawsuit tide in its favor, a Jasper County...

Commentary: Discounting to make the cash flow.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Jim Wirken We are moving through the topic of "collecting" as the fifth area of the five areas that make up every business in the world. As you know the other four areas are as follows: "Clients" or "customers"; "Administration";...

Commentary: Website promotes the worst 'American Idol' has to offer.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Larry Fiorino (This article was originally published in The Daily Record, Baltimore, Md., another Dolan Media publication.) Each week, viewers of the popular show "American Idol" cast millions of votes for their favorite...

Illinois convictions cannot be used for sentencing in MO.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan The Missouri attorney general's office plans to lobby the legislature to fix a law that allowed a repeat domestic abuser a break on his prison sentence. The Western District Court of Appeals reversed and...

Senior Judges: Essential, but underpaid.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole (This article was originally published in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, another Dolan Media publication). In January, Cole County Senior Judge Byron Kinder upheld the proposed ballot language on the Missouri Stem Cells...

Will Windows Vista operating system software be bigger, better, more?
April 5, 2006... Byline: Rob Larimer (This article was originally published in the Colorado Springs Business Journal, another Dolan Media publication). Microsoft is hoping to rock the computing world with the launch of its Windows Vista operating...

Commentary: Being a good leader at work.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Satish B. Parekh (This article originally ran in the Daily Record, Baltimore, MD., another Dolan Media publication). During a recent conversation with my CEO friend over a bottle of single malt scotch, both flowing endlessly,...

Commentary: Swing thought sparks success in golf game.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Rahnis (This article originally ran in the Daily Record, Baltimore, MD., another Dolan Media publication). If you've ever heard or read that the way to hit great golf shots is to have your mind completely clear of any...

Department of Health and Senior Services runs afoul of Medicaid law.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan The State of Missouri could potentially be on the hook for major money in the wake of a Western District Court of Appeals decision regarding the Personal Care Assistance program for disabled adults. The...

Personal service can aid in tax preparation.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Erin Conroy (This article was originally published in the St. Charles County Business Record, St. Charles, Mo., another Dolan Media publication). Tax season is not a phrase many people like to hear. Some people have turned to...

8th Circuit gives woman another shot at retaliation claim.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright (This article was originally published in The Daily Record, St. Louis, Mo., another Dolan Media publication). A series of inconsistencies compelled the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a summary...

National Assn. of Legal Professionals held educational conference in Tulsa.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Christine Ann Hughes On March 9-11, 2006, the National Association of Legal Professionals (NALS) held a Professional Development & Education Conference in Tulsa. Dale Smith Thomas was the keynote speaker. With her permission, I...

Commentary: What's your price? Billing alternatives beyond hourly.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Edward Poll (This article was originally published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, another Dolan Media publication). Legal fees were traditionally based not only on the lawyer's time spent, but also the nature of the service,...

Traffic safety task force presents plea recommendations to the Kansas City Municipal Court.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick The mayor's traffic safety task force will meet again this afternoon and likely present its recommendations regarding the plea bargaining practice in the Kansas City Municipal Court. But before the committee...

Many woman- and minority-owned contractors start with public projects to enter private market.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Edward Romayor stands tall on the second floor of the upscale condominiums his company is helping to construct in Southeast Portland's Richmond neighborhood. Its lofted ceilings represent a large contract - about...

Idaho's chief economist expects construction costs to keep rising in 2006.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Builders can expect most construction costs to keep rising this year, the Associated General Contractors of America's chief economist said in Boise, Idaho last week. Wood prices have come down from their 2004...

Ameristar Casinos Inc. offers a $2.25B all-cash proposal for phoenix-based gaming company.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Mike Trask On Monday, Ameristar Casinos Inc. announced an all-cash proposal to acquire Aztar Corp., a Phoenix-based gaming company, for $2.25 billion. The purchase price is more than Pinnacle Entertainment's offer to buy the...

To arbitrate or not poses perplexing questions.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Marshall Tanick "To be, or not to be: that is the question," - Shakespeare, "Hamlet," Act III, Scene I, 1661 Judges are often confronted with the question of whether a dispute must be arbitrated and, after the arbitration,...

Portable breath test ruling impacts Missouri DWI law.
April 8, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling could have a significant impact on DWI cases by allowing judges to determine whether probable cause was lacking where sobriety tests were improperly administered. In York...

U.S. Business and Industry Council seeking tariff on all imported goods.
April 8, 2006... Byline: Amy Gillentine The U.S. Business and Industry Council is asking Congress to place a tariff on all imported goods to bolster the floundering domestic manufacturing sector. The group, which has 1,000 members in 44 states, says...

Plaintiff and defendant left sharing the blame in car wreck.
April 8, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff and defendant were left sharing the blame when a St. Louis County jury returned its $5,000 verdict in Michael Devereaux v. Jean Wiethop that momentarily left both sides wondering exactly who...

Commentary: The future of demonstrative evidence involves.
April 8, 2006... Byline: Joyce Harris and Leo Eilts Presenting evidence in trial, mediation and other legal arenas has changed dramatically over the years. We are still learning methods to prepare information to achieve the greatest impact with a judge...

Commentary: Customized service builds client loyalty.
April 8, 2006... Byline: Kimberly Proctor Client loyalty is best built with customized services that specifically meet client need. It is time to banish the "standard" treatment including standardized letters and invoices in favor of customized support....

Employers, employees should understand blog rights.
April 9, 2006... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Heather Armstrong is a famous name in the blog world. She was fired in 2002 for posting information about her former employer on her blog, "dooce.com." Her experience has given rise to a new word, "dooced," which...

Driving sales through the Internet.
April 9, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee More than 1 billion people in the world, and nearly 200 million Americans, now use the Internet, according to the Computer Industry Almanac Inc. If the Net is not part of your marketing efforts, you're missing an...

ABA Ethics Committee releases opinion.
April 9, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff In a newly issued ethics opinion, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility provides detailed guidance to help lawyers avoid conflicts of interest in making or...

Wrongful death settlement yields $400,000.
April 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The death of a 2-year-old boy, which settled for $400,000, has drawn attention to the manufacturing of childrens' furniture and safety concerns surrounding those products, according to lawyers...

Commentary: Looking to the bright for what is right.
April 9, 2006... Byline: Judge Steven I. Platt As my last column closed, I asked whether we wish to leave the effort to reconcile the various jurisprudential philosophies to economists, who evaluate legal outcomes solely by their degree of conformity to...

Western District Court of Appeals upholds Missouri Securities Commissioner's reprimand.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan The Western District Court of Appeals says a potential investors meeting at a car dealership constituted an illegal offer of unregistered securities. The appellate panel upheld a decision by the Missouri...

Too many attorneys unaware of "data intergrity" issue in records management.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber So you've advised your corporate clients to read up on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, keep accurate records and find a reliable way of destroying papers they no longer need. Think you've covered all your bases to protect...

Utility lineman receives $1M settlement for injuries.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Watching out for fellow contractors should have been the lesson learned according to the lawyer for an electrical utility worker who won a settlement of more than $1 million following a workplace...

Commentary: Mediation approaches to make outside the room.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Louise Phipps Senft We know that in many cases, parties reach agreement in mediation where they had previously tried to do so without success, perhaps on a number of occasions. Something had to have changed during the mediation for...

Western District Court of Appeals overturns trial court's custody decision.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Undeniable and detrimental new influences in a child's life caused the Western District Court of Appeals to overturn a trial court's custody decision. In Donna Lynn Hamer v. Steven Todd Nicholas, the father...

Kansas City traffic safety task force recommends ending moratorium.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick Several members of Mayor Kay Barnes' traffic safety task force recommended lifting the moratorium placed on the process of amending moving violations to a lesser charge. Six of the eight task force members,...

Focus groups starting to interest law firms looking for market research.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) When Graham & Dunn, a mid-sized Seattle law firm, considered moving its offices from downtown to...

Commentary: Payment schedules and post-dated checks.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Jim Wirken We are continuing to talk about the topic of "collecting" as the fifth and final area of the five areas that make up every business in the world. The other four areas are as follows: "Clients" or "customers";...

Commentary: Public companies hesitate giving public guidance.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Tim Hanson (This article was originally published in Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Detroit, MI, another Dolan Media publication.) Today, many public companies have taken the silent approach when it comes to giving public guidance on...

MO COS, Western District rules trial court loses jurisdiction after discharge from probation.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Once a court excuses a defendant from his punishment, it no longer retains jurisdiction for purposes of rescinding that relief. The Western District Court of Appeals reversed Vernon Norfolk v. State of...

Kansas Supreme Court rules employee injured by 'horseplay' can get comp.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, another Dolan Media publication). An employee who was injured as a result of a fellow employee's horseplay can recover workers' compensation...

Ambien users are filing lawsuits.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, another Dolan Media publication). Janet Makinen, a Florida housewife, was prescribed Ambien in 1998 for insomnia. About two weeks later, she...

Commentary: Problem partners.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Nancy Byerly Jones (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, another Dolan Media publication). Partners sometimes disappoint each other. But if one of your partners has a legitimate and serious problem such...

Kansas City's Hospital Hill street project begins Monday, April 17th.
April 14, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Work on the corridor improvement project for 22nd and 23rd streets in Kansas City's Hospital Hill neighborhood will begin Monday. The project will realign the intersection of 22nd Street and Gillham and...

Construction costs pinch Minnesota affordable housing developers.
April 14, 2006... Byline: Mark Anderson St. Paul-based Common Bond, one of Minnesota's largest developers of affordable housing, caught the full brunt of one of Hurricane Katrina's northernmost gales as it was finalizing plans for its most recent project....

Outspoken critic says transit-oriented development is cost-ineffective.
April 14, 2006... Byline: Brian Johnson Randal O'Toole, an outspoken critic of transit-oriented development, describes himself - ironically - as a "rail nut." "My hero is James J. Hill," O'Toole said, during a recent presentation to a House...

Claimants of discrimination must satisfy a three-pronged standard to overcome summary judgment.
April 14, 2006... Byline: Marshall Tanick Claimants under federal, state and local discrimination laws generally must satisfy a three-pronged standard to overcome summary judgment. The triumvirate standard requires the claimant first to establish a prima...

Corporate clients dissatisfied with outside counsel.
April 15, 2006... Byline: Dick Dahl Back in the old days, a law firm's relationship with its clients was oftentimes a cozy affair. Senior corporate managers and senior partners belonged to the same country clubs, and the legal bills that the firms submitted...

8th Circuit rules search based on renter's consent was reasonable.
April 15, 2006... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff Police officers could reasonably believe that the renter of a home had the authority to consent to a search of the defendant's filing cabinet, which was located in a common closet, the 8th Circuit has ruled...

Missouri Supreme Court issues ruling on feud between neighbors.
April 15, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff "Something there is that doesn't love a wall," Robert Frost wrote, so one can only imagine what Frost would think of the 8-foot-tall, 270-foot-long corrugated tin fence that Jim and Dan Highfill built...

Commentary: Some non-dating advice.
April 15, 2006... Byline: Andrew Baida Lawyers, you would think, would be relatively at ease with the law, especially after devoting three years or more of their lives to law school and having made the law their chosen profession, but it never ceases to...

Is litigation over chemical perchlorate heating up?
April 16, 2006... Byline: Dick Dahl The chemical compound perchlorate has already generated plenty of heat as a key ingredient in rocket fuel. But now it's generating heat of a different kind. Over the last few years, scientists, policy makers and...

Real estate investors are staying the course.
April 16, 2006... Byline: Mark Anderson The era of very low borrowing prices may be finally coming to a close. That reversal may not do much, however, to dampen a real estate market that has thrived on its three-year diet of cheap capital - at least...

Business lawyers, corporate leaders to address corporate governance at ABA presentation.
April 16, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Business leaders will gather May 11 - 13 in New York City to discuss how changes in the legal landscape have affected the behavior of corporate boards and management, responsibilities of general counsel,...

Commentary: Scam just in time for tax season.
April 16, 2006... Byline: Larry Fiorino As the IRS tax deadline looms, identity thieves are hoping that taxpayers will get rattled into accidentally providing sensitive information through an elaborate Phishing scam. Thieves are sending e-mails that...

Missouri Court of Appeals finds grandparents' visitation award excessive.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan While there is no clear line on what constitutes as too much grandparent visitation, the Western District Court of Appeals determined when it becomes "excessive." The appellate division in Jonathan Michael...

Financial experts question wisdom of paying tax bill with credit card.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Rob Larimer More and more people are electing to settle their annual tax bills with credit cards, enticed, it seems, by the perks or convenience of paying with plastic. But not everyone agrees on the financial soundness of the...

Commentary: Not just a phone anymore.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Amy Gillentine As network connections improve and the market becomes saturated, cell phones have undergone a metamorphosis: they do much more than simply make calls. They're fashion accessories, mobile offices, Internet...

Not just a phone anymore.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Amy Gillentine

Commentary: Imagine the waste if they weren't even organized?
April 17, 2006... Byline: Mike Boyd I'm not a very big fan of unions. Never have been, despite the fact that the majority of the folks who lived in the small Texas town where I grew up worked at chemical manufacturing plants or refineries and were...

Western District Court of Appeals rules director had 'good cause' to order driving skills test.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan The Western District Court of Appeals found good cause to revoke an elderly man's driver's license despite a physician's opinion that he was capable of safe driving. It was in the interest of public safety,...

Director had 'good cause' to order driving skills test.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan

Missouri doctors support bill that would give dept. of insurance more discretion to approve rates.
April 18, 2006... Byline: James Monahan (This article was originally published in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) Doctors often blame trial lawyers for skyrocketing med-mal insurance premiums. And trial lawyers...

Credit counselors struggling to keep up with workload.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe (This article was originally published in The Daily Record, Baltimore, Md., another Dolan Media publication.) Six months after a federal law required all bankruptcy filers to first seek credit...

Commentary: Getting bills paid while keeping clients requires balance.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Jim Wirken We are continuing to talk about the topic of "collecting" as the fifth and final area of the five areas that make up every business in the world. The other four areas are: "Clients" or "customers"; "Administration";...

Commentary: Swing your golf club within yourself.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Joe Rahnis (This article was originally published in The Daily Record, Baltimore, Md., another Dolan Media publication.) With golf season in full swing, we've seen plenty of the pros bombing 300-plus yard drives off the tee....

MO Supreme Court rules 96 hour suicide watch does not constitute commitment.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale (This article was originally published in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, another Dolan Media publication). A corrections officer, who was involuntarily "detained" in a mental ward for 96 hours on a suicide watch, was...

96 hour suicide watch does not constitute commitment.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale

Bankruptcy judge can reduce the contingency fee of attorney.
April 19, 2006... Byline: David Ziemer (This article was originally published in the Wisconsin Law Journal, Milwaukee, WI., another Dolan Media publication). A bankruptcy judge can reduce the contingency fee of an attorney retained to recover assets...

Federal bankruptcy court rules bankruptcy lawyer's conflict requires disgorgement.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, another Dolan Media publication). Because a debtor's bankruptcy attorney also worked for the bank that refinanced the debtor's home...

Federal judge orders franchise to repay more than $2M to Pepsico Inc.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff (This article was originally published in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, another Dolan Media publication). A federal judge has ordered a franchise that operates approximately 40 Wendy's restaurants in...

Commentary: TiVo-like service without the box.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Larry Fiorino (This article was originally published in The Daily Record, Baltimore, Md., another Dolan Media publication). A cable television provider in the New York metropolitan area, Cablevision Systems, will pilot a new...