Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) articles from January 2008

Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) archives from January 2008

Mothers balance career and family as part-time attorneys.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Betsy Lee Mothers balance career and family as part-time attorneys. After Lori Buck gave birth to her daughter, Avery, she knew something had to change. "Almost immediately, I realized I wanted to spend more time with her,"...

St. Louis Circuit Judge holds hearing in delayed trial case.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese More than 18 months after being arrested on vehicle tampering charges, a man who has repeatedly asked for a speedy trial got a court hearing Wednesday but no immediate resolution. Tracy McKee, 43, of St. Louis, went...

Missouri-based Shook, Hardy & Bacon named top product liability law firm.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Shook, Hardy & Bacon received The American Lawyer magazine's top honor for a litigation department in the product liability category. The award, which was announced Wednesday, recognized Shook Hardy for building...

Commentary: Sleep: A time-consuming but worthy resolution.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Christine Ann Hughes With the New Year come resolutions. He who fails to plan, plans to fail. So, we resolve to do better, plan better, make better choices, spend our time wiser, and to take better care of ourselves and others. No...

After long delay, St. Louis defendant heads home to wait for trial.
January 4, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A judge on Thursday allowed a man to stay with his mother while awaiting trial as the judge considered whether there even will be a trial. Tracy McKee, 43, of St. Louis, has made repeated requests for a speedy trial...

Husch Blackwell Sanders chosen as Missouri law firm's name.
January 4, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Husch & Eppenberger won a literal coin toss to put the law firm's first name in front of Blackwell Sanders when the two firms merge. The combined firm will be known as Husch Blackwell Sanders, the firms announced...

Missouri lawyers weigh study on heart deaths from delayed responses.(Clinical report)
January 4, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka Plaintiffs' attorneys are taking note of a report from a Kansas City medical researcher who found that thousands of patients die when hospital staff fails to respond quickly enough to their heart attacks. Limited...

Attorney creates group to alter judge selection.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Bill Placke seeks to sue Missouri Bar A leading critic of the Missouri Plan is taking his fight to another level. Attorney Bill Placke, president of the Federalist Society in St. Louis, is leaving the position to...

New plans floated for modifying Mo. Plan.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Missouri voters could give elected officials a bigger stake in how state and some circuit judges are chosen, under legislation filed on Friday. Rep. Jim Lembke's proposal, a modified version of the current process,...

Actual damages reach $5.8M in Missouri class action suit.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A few hundred Missouri borrowers received a multimillion verdict from a Jackson County jury on Friday -- a verdict that could grow larger when the jury assesses punitive damages. The class of plaintiffs, who claimed...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: January 7, 2007.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An appellate court panel unanimously affirmed the decision of a Jackson County Circuit judge to dismiss a wrongful-death claim against the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. The commission is entitled...

Commentary: Judges in the news penetrate my morning fog.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier I don't have any words of wisdom today. At least I don't feel like I do. Maybe it was the fact that I stayed out until 11:30 last night rooting on the Jayhawks in their Orange Bowl victory. Maybe it was the beers I had...

Punitive award said excessive, will face appeal.
January 8, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A punitive damage award of $99 million to a class of plaintiffs on Friday will soon test appellate courts on excessive verdicts. The award was nearly 20 times greater than the $5.1 million awarded in actual damages...

Missouri Secretary of State to appeal decision on ballot summary.
January 8, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Even as supporters start gathering signatures, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan plans to appeal a judge's ruling tossing summary language for a ballot measure limiting use of affirmative action in government. A Cole...

Long-term St. Louis defendant will face charges.
January 8, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A St. Louis man incarcerated for about 19 months on vehicle-tampering charges must still face trial, a judge ruled Monday. Circuit Judge John Riley in his ruling called the delay in the man's case "unfortunate," but...

Blackwell Sanders names new partners in Kansas City.
January 8, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Blackwell Sanders elected seven new partners to its Kansas City office on Jan. 1. Amy M. Fowler joined the firm's labor and employment department as an associate in 2000. She left the firm briefly in...

Sammy Davis Jr.'s widow sues over copyright.
January 8, 2008... Byline: Victoria Slind-Flor, Bloomberg News The widow of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. sued several self-proclaimed media consultants in Dallas relating to her copyright interests in her late husband's biographies, Yes I Can and Why Me?...

Voter ID spurs political clashes in Missouri.
January 9, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka The Show-Me State stopped asking voters to show their photo IDs in 2006. But if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a similar Indiana or Georgia requirement, Missouri lawmakers may push the issue harder. The federal high...

Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District upholds $8M jury verdict on appeal.
January 9, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An appellate panel, agreeing that one of the nation's largest insurance companies acted with malice, affirmed a trial court's $8 million punitive damage verdict. In the unanimous decision handed down Tuesday, the...

Cole County Circuit rules cities need not pay police overtime.
January 9, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Fire and police departments can safely follow their old schedules thanks to a judge's ruling that the year-old minimum wage law does not apply to them. For the second time in as many days, Cole County Circuit Judge...

St. Louis County judge blasts Overland Park payday loan company.
January 9, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka The hard-to-read fine print of a payday loan contract has paralyzed the legal rights of Missouri consumers, a St. Louis County judge has ruled. About 400,000 Missourians signed loan contracts with the payday lender...

Citigroup seeks Enron case dismissal.
January 9, 2008... Byline: Christopher Scinta, Bloomberg News Citigroup, the lone bank holdout in creditor litigation over the collapse of Enron, asked a New York federal judge to reject claims that it helped the fraud that destroyed the energy trader in...

League founder claims Women's National Basketball Assn. stole his dreams.
January 10, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Lightning Mitchell had a dream of one day creating a leading professional women's basketball league. And in the early 1990s, he followed through on that wish by founding the Women's Basketball Association, a league...

Comcast files suit over Missouri's VoIP rules.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A disagreement over whether or not the Missouri Public Service Commission has the authority to regulate a national company's Internet phone service has spilled over to federal court. Comcast Corp., a national cable and...

Suit against Missouri governor raises questions for Sunshine Law.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Jackson County Circuit judge will likely have to address some important legal issues in the recent lawsuit filed against Gov. Matt Blunt and four of his current and former aides. In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday,...

Kansas City bar group for gay, lesbian lawyers holds its first meeting.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Until this week, the only association in Kansas City dedicated to gay and lesbian lawyers was Lana Knedlik's occasional lunch group. KC LEGAL, a bar association for, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender attorneys in...

Courts respond differently to Missouri's new victim name redaction law.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A new state law that closes parts of certain court records has St. Louis and state court officials struggling with how to comply. The law requires courts to close certain information that could identify a victim of...

Rep. John Bowman pleads guilty to bribery.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka St. Louis Democrat must resign House seat State Rep. John Bowman, D-St. Louis, must resign from the Missouri House as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors over his involvement in a credit card fraud...

Suit: Cigarette makers targeted poor blacks.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese An impending lawsuit blaming tobacco companies for the dangers of smoking offers a rare twist: it claims the companies' advertising targeted poor black neighborhoods in St. Louis. The lawsuit is by a man who started...

Kansas City law office up for historical recognition.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick The home of a Kansas City law office could soon join a national list for notable buildings. The Inter-State Building, which is owned by lawyer William H. Pickett, will be considered by the Landmarks Commission of...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: January 14, 2008.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Jackson County jury quickly cleared a local doctor of negligence last week. Dr. Frederick Lintecum, a gynecologist in Kansas City, won a defense verdict following an hour of deliberations on Thursday. The...

Rep. John Bowman pleads guilty to bribery.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka St. Louis Democrat John Bowman must resign House seat State Rep. John Bowman, D-St. Louis, must resign from the Missouri House as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors over his involvement in a credit...

Chertoff extends deadline for REAL ID by five years.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Jeff Bliss, Bloomberg News The Department of Homeland Security postponed for almost five years a requirement that U.S. residents carry tamper-proof driver's licenses or identity cards. The delay will cut the cost to states...

Nation Briefs.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Bloomberg News 'Millionaire amendment' draws high court review The U.S. Supreme Court will scrutinize a federal law that makes it easier for House of Representatives candidates to raise funds when their opponents spend more...

Commentary: I need a few more like my new favorite client.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier I wish I had a couple of clients a month like the one I had this week. It would make my life so much simpler. She was a first-time DUI client. Paid the full amount of her fee in two installments, two weeks apart, more...

Kansas City municipal judgeships pricier than planned.
January 15, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Some candidates' background checks cost more than $500 out of pocket The price to be considered for a judgeship at the Kansas City Municipal Court is considerably more than anyone originally anticipated. Under...

U.S. district courts gear up for crack sentence changes.
January 15, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Harold Simmons is ready to spread his wings. Sentenced in 2006 to 37 months in prison for possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine, he asked a federal judge in St. Louis last week to resentence him to 30...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: January 15, 2008.
January 15, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Jackson County Family Court gains national accreditation Kids who get in trouble and are placed on probation in have an extremely good chance of never having to deal with the Court system again....

Court declines to expand experimental-drug access.
January 15, 2008... Byline: Greg Stohr, Bloomberg News The U.S. Supreme Court turned away an appeal that sought to give terminally ill people greater access to experimental drugs that may save their lives. The justices, without comment, rebuffed a...

Kansas City attorney acquitted of loan accusation.
January 16, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey An attorney accused of lying during a federal investigation was acquitted of all charges by a jury Wednesday. Carl W. Busey, 59, faced three felonies for allegedly loaning former Municipal Judge Deborah Neal money and...

Missouri Supreme Court rules man must prove retardation to overcome death sentence.
January 16, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Criminal defendants who allege mental retardation to avoid the death penalty must prove the disability, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday. The court's 4-3 ruling affirmed the death sentences of Ernest Lee...

Mo. Supreme Court rules no oath, no testimony.
January 16, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A St. Louis County judge was right to disallow the testimony of a man who refused to take an oath, the Missouri Supreme Court determined. In an unsigned, unanimous decision handed down Tuesday, the court ruled that...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: January 16, 2008.
January 16, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Staff Lathrop & Gage announces five new partners in K.C. Lathrop & Gage has announced the promotion of five lawyers to partner in its Kansas City office. Heather Gill has defended clients in civil...

Former U.S. congressman indicted in terror probe.
January 17, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A former U.S. congressman and a Columbia-based Islamic charity were indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on charges related to funneling money to property owned by a Pakistani terrorist. Eight new counts join a previous...

Jury acquits K.C. attorney in U.S. District Court of federal perjury charges.
January 17, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A jury deliberated for less than 45 minutes Wednesday before acquitting an attorney on charges that he loaned money to a municipal judge and then lied during a federal investigation. Carl W. Bussey, 59, was accused of...

Chastain's light rail suit challenges city charter.
January 17, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Clay Chastain's plan to bring light rail to Kansas City now includes a stop at the Jackson County Courthouse. As promised, Chastain filed a lawsuit Wednesday in response to the City Council's decision to repeal his...

Missouri Gov. Blunt's budget holds line for courts, public defenders.
January 17, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Slight increases, but no dramatic new hires or initiatives, are in line for the state's courts and public defenders, if Gov. Matt Blunt's budget plan ultimately wins approval. The state's public defenders have said for...

Money flows in Missouri for judicial showdown.
January 17, 2008... Byline: James Goodwin A group that aims to keep sitting judges from becoming sitting ducks raised more than $70,000 last quarter to aid in their defense. Meanwhile, another group involved in the successful effort to oust a Cole County...

Federal prosecutor expected to join Jackson County bench.
January 17, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An assistant U.S. attorney will fill a vacant judgeship at the Jackson County Circuit Court. Gov. Matt Blunt appointed Brent Powell to fill the opening created when Judge J.D. Williamson retired from the court in...

Property rights advocates flank dentist at Missouri Supreme Court.
January 18, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka A single line in the state constitution was the only issue in dispute Thursday as the Supreme Court considered the condemnation of an Arnold dentist's clinic. That was all property-rights advocates needed. They...

Judges named in Jackson, Clay counties.
January 18, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A six-year veteran of the U.S. Attorney's Office will fill a judicial vacancy at the Jackson County Circuit Court. Brent Powell will make the move from the federal courthouse to the circuit bench following his...

K.C. attorney struggling with alcoholism defends license.
January 18, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri Supreme Court is weighing options for the professional future of a Kansas City attorney struggling with alcoholism and accused of neglecting clients because of frequent intoxication. William Merryman, a...

Missouri case vs. Allstate could reap benefit of Florida ban.
January 18, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A local bad-faith case against Allstate Insurance Co. could get a boost from a Florida insurance commissioner's unprecedented decision against the company this week. The ruling by Kevin McCarty prevents Allstate...

Taxpayer challenges Missouri's now-repealed weapons law.
January 18, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka A Ste. Genevieve County taxpayer wants the Supreme Court to declare that a 2003 conceal and carry weapons act was an unconstitutional unfunded mandate from the state government. The high court did just that in a 2004...

Kansas City Lawyers in the News: January 18, 2008.
January 18, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Attorneys start new firm Two Kansas City personal injury attorneys announced this week that they have started a new firm located near Country Club Plaza. Samuel Wendt and Peter Goss, previously of...

Survey finds firms pessimistic about economy.
January 18, 2008... Byline: Lindsay Fortado, Bloomberg News Managing partners of large U.S. law firms have become sharply more pessimistic regarding the economy and its effects on the legal industry, according to a Citigroup survey. Law firm leaders, or...

Official says White House e-mails for two-year period overwritten.
January 18, 2008... Byline: Roger Runningen and Cary O'Reilly, Bloomberg White House e-mail messages in the early days of the Bush administration were recorded on backup tapes that were routinely overwritten and may not be recoverable, a White House official...

CitiMortgage seeks relief.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Loan servicer files 36 suits in St. Louis Circuit Court CitiMortgage hopes to find in court some protection from the thrashing it received in the housing market. And the mortgage-loan servicer has chosen as its...

Missouri Supreme Court throws out conviction in casino chip fraud.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A divided Missouri Supreme Court has tossed out a man's conviction for violating a Missouri gambling law, saying his conduct did not fall under the law he was charged with breaking. Eric Winfrey admitted while pleading...

Punitive damages shrink as court reins in lawyers.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Margaret Cronin Fisk, Bloomberg News Some say they've changed their approach in trials A U.S. court crackdown on punitive damages resulted in the second consecutive year of declines and reversals of earlier verdicts, a trend...

Commentary: N.Y judge system passes muster, but leave it there.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier The U.S. Supreme Court last Wednesday said it was not against the First Amendment of our Constitution for New Yorkers to choose its trial judges through a voting system which clearly and unfairly favors the two...

Professor alleges ageism at University of Missouri-Columbia.
January 22, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey Dr. Ranadhir Mitra isn't ready for the morgue -- literally or professionally. The 74-year-old University of Missouri-Columbia professor recently filed a federal lawsuit against MU officials claiming age discrimination...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: January 22, 2008.
January 22, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City asphalt company was ordered to pay $12 million for its role in a fatal 2005 crash. A Jackson County jury last week found Vance Brothers negligent for the death of 65-year-old John Teuber in August...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel considers class action suit against bank.
January 22, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Trust clients are trying to get a class action lawsuit against Bank of America back in court after it was tossed by a federal judge. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Jan. 17...

Missouri governor declines to seek re-election.
January 23, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Gov. Matt Blunt's decision leaves GOP candidate for 2008 uncertain In a surprise announcement via news release and a YouTube video, Gov. Matt Blunt said Tuesday that he's not running for re-election. Blunt said he...

8th Circuit bars Missouri abortion policy on 35th Roe anniversary.
January 23, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out a Missouri policy against transporting female inmates to receive an abortion except to protect a mother's health. The ruling came exactly 35 years after the U.S. Supreme...

Suit filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court over failed real estate deal.
January 23, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Owner of Lewis, Rice office thought she had sold St. Louis building The owner of the building that houses Kansas City-based Lewis, Rice & Fingersh's downtown St. Louis office is suing for more than $16 million over...

Manhunt subject from Missouri claims newspaper, sheriff libeled him.
January 23, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey An incarcerated southwest Missouri man who gained national attention last year for eluding authorities for months after being charged with killing his wife is suing a Missouri newspaper and a sheriff for media coverage...

Missouri Supreme Court won't revisit lawyer's reversed conviction.
January 23, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck A last-ditch effort by state prosecutors to uphold the conviction of a former Kansas City lawyer on murder charges has failed. The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a court's decision to overturn...

Hovey Williams moves office to Overland Park.
January 23, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Staff Hovey Williams moves office, names two new partners Hovey Williams recently named Greg Skoch and Cheryl Burbach partners in the firm, bringing to 11 the intellectual property firm's total...

With Mo. governor moving on, supporters push forward with court plan effort.
January 24, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Supporters of a plan to overhaul the way Missouri selects judges for its highest courts are pressing ahead even as a major critic of the current system steps aside. Bill Placke, a lawyer and president of the Federalist...

Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District splits on voir dire, urges timeliness.
January 24, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Before a split appellate panel affirmed a Jackson County verdict, it first delivered a message to attorneys on the issue of timeliness: Challenge jurors before the case goes to the jury. "Because conducting a civil...

Judges in Missouri continue clearing speedy trial requests.
January 24, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter After 18 months in jail, Michael Leicht finally got his day in court. Facing felony charges for stealing a copper downspout, the 48-year-old waived his right to a jury trial on Wednesday and stood before St. Louis...

Kansas City attorney named to KS civil rights commission.
January 24, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Donald S. Prophete, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins' Kansas City office, has been appointed Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' Advisory Committee in Kansas. Prophate, a shareholder in...

Anti-abortion plates covered by free speech, rules federal judge in Missouri.
January 25, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A federal judge's ruling that Missouri must issue license plates bearing an anti-abortion slogan might change the state's recently streamlined system for approving specialty plates of all kinds, though any impact...

Labor firm expands across Missouri.
January 25, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Littler Mendelson, already in K.C., is now in St. Louis Littler Mendelson just got a little bigger. The San Francisco-based labor and employment law firm announced Thursday that it has opened an office in Creve...

Education attorney Tom Mickes leaves firm that bears his name.
January 25, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Education attorney Tom Mickes is exiting Doster Mickes James Ullom Benson & Guest with six other attorneys to start a new firm. The attorneys, whose practices also include labor and employment and commercial...

St. Louis docketing change may go to Missouri Supreme Court.
January 25, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker has lodged a complaint with the Missouri Supreme Court over recent changes to the city circuit's docketing system. His petition, titled "Application to Enforce Approved Local...

Trial to begin over fireworks death.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Trial is set to begin today in St. Louis Circuit Court for a woman who sued after her son was killed in a fireworks explosion more than four and a half years ago. The explosion in Bonita Springs, Fla., killed five...

Warming trend.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey Stinson lawyer part of growing climate-change law practice Mark Johnson sees the changing climate of environmental law. It started when existing clients with Stinson Morrison Hecker wanted to know more about the...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: January 28, 2008.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A panel of appellate judges questioned in a hand down last week why it knew a critical piece of information that a trial court had not. When a driver and two passengers injured in a car wreck sued the Missouri...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: January 28, 2008.
January 28, 2008... Byline: The Daily Record Robb to address AAJ on helicopter crash suits Gary C. Robb, of Kansas City personal injury firm Robb & Robb, has been invited to speak about helicopter crash lawsuits at the mid-year convention of the American...

Commentary: The hours are long, but the game is fun again.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Well, well, well. Watch out what you wish for. It's 12:13 a.m., and I just e-mailed a motion to a judge on a criminal matter going to trial Tuesday. I doled out some legal advice to a friend and client concerning my...

O'Malley expected to join immigration court in Kansas City.
January 29, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An immigration court scheduled to open later this year in Kansas City is rumored to be taking a veteran judge from the Jackson County Circuit Court. Judge John O'Malley is believed to be a leading candidate to take...