Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) articles from July 2005

Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) archives from July 2005

W. District Court of Appeals affirms, transfers auto accident case to MO Supreme Court.
July 1, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan A traffic accident turned into a legal mess when the various defendants cross claimed one another. And now the Western District Court of Appeals has decided, in an unusual move, to turn the case over to the...

MO Court of Appeals rules forgery victim will get interest on his money.
July 1, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter A forgery victim will get his money back with interest. The victim, Conrad Stromberg, sold a piece of DeSoto property to Kevin and Lucinda Moore, owners of Complete Auto Repair, for $100,000. The Strombergs...

U.S. Supreme Court to decide if woman can sue over seized computers.
July 1, 2005... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) Can a businesswoman pursue a Bivens action against the U.S. government for violating her Fifth Amendment...

Commentary: A cogent reminder of the importance of an independent judiciary.
July 1, 2005... Byline: Joan A. Lukey (This article originally ran in the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) Madame Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dube is a compelling presence. This is hardly surprising for a...

Commentary: Buy-Sell agreement - Don't leave without it.
July 1, 2005... Byline: Robert Ballard (This article originally ran in the Idaho Business Review, Boise, Idaho, another Dolan Media publication.) Over 90 percent of the businesses in the U.S. are closely held (nonpublic). So it's obvious how important...

Failure to post EEOC notice may toll statute of limitations, 1st Circuit finds.
July 1, 2005... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article ran originally in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) An employer's failure to post a statutorily mandated notice of employees' rights may toll the statute of...

Long-running probate matter makes second pass through MO Court of Appeals.
July 4, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Nearly a quarter-century since his death, the dispute over John Byron Corbin's estate may have finally ended. Corbin died in August 1981 at the age of 87 and left some rather rudimentary bequests to...

'10-Minute Mentors' offers online practical tips to rookie attorneys.
July 4, 2005... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) The Texas Young Lawyers' Association and Texas Bar CLE and have teamed up to produce "The 10-Minute Mentor,"...

Advertisers spent a record amount at the movies in 2004.
July 4, 2005... Byline: Kara Kridler (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) Ignoring a steady slide in movie ticket sales, advertisers spent a record $438 million in movie-screen...

Commentary: It's a Gimme - Gearing up for organized golf outings.
July 4, 2005... Byline: Joe Rahnis (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) 'Tis the season for corporate and charity golf outings. What a great concept: You get out of the office for a half or...

Commentary: Requirements of protecting trade secrets.
July 4, 2005... Byline: Jim Astrachan (This article originally appeared in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media newspaper). A few years ago we were in Florida defending a trade secret case. The alleged trade secret was a boat design....

U.S. Supreme Court Justices rule on music downloads.
July 5, 2005... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson (This article orginally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) Peer-to-peer file sharing companies may be liable for the distribution of copyrighted material by their...

Smaller centers more popular in commercial property.
July 5, 2005... Byline: James Mosher (This article originally appeared in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) Not using that parking space that came with your apartment? Tell a developer. He might want to build a...

Missouri Bar asks private practitioners to volunteer as public defenders.
July 5, 2005... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff (This article originally ran in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) Missouri lawyers in private practice are being asked to voluntarily accept cases from the...

Commentary: How much time do you spend on non-billable hours?
July 5, 2005... Byline: Jim Wirken We are still talking about the area of "billing" as one of the five areas that make up every business in the world. "Billing" is the fourth area. The other four areas are as follows: "Clients" or "customers";...

Commentary: Let's get ready to rumble: Separation of church and state becomes a hot issue.
July 5, 2005... Byline: Mark Cheshire (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) Keanu Reeves - the actor who dazzled us all with his nuanced portrayal of a surfing undercover cop opposite...

MO Court of Appeals Western District rules man must return cash gifts to widow's estate.
July 6, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick A man who received cash gifts totaling tens of thousands of dollars from a 94-year-old widow he befriended late in her life must return $43,900 to her estate, the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled....

MO Court of Appeals reverses workers' comp claim for employee who had heart attack.
July 6, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess (This article originally ran in the St. Louis Daily Record, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) Ignore your body's needs, and pay the price yourself. That was the ruling of the Missouri Court of...

Statistics show that federal courts better utilize those called for jury service.
July 6, 2005... Byline: NY Daily Record Staff (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Rochester, NY, another Dolan Media publication.) According to information released by the federal judiciary last week, federal courts in 2004 succeeded in...

9th Circuit rules ERISA plan's late denial of benefits isn't reviewed de novo.
July 6, 2005... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) An ERISA plan administrator's late decision to deny benefits was not subject to de novo review, even...

Commentary: My personal Declaration of Independence.
July 6, 2005... Byline: Christine Ann Hughes More than 20 million persons were taken from Africa between 1500 and 1800 and brought to America to be slaves. When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, it did not give freedom to these...

Romines sworn in as newest member of Eastern District appellate bench.
July 7, 2005... Byline: Emily Umbright Casual and low-key was the judicial swearing-in of Judge Kenneth M. Romines to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, last Thursday afternoon in the jury assembly room at the St. Louis County Courthouse....

Law firm with disclaimer can't be sued under Fair Debt Act, 2nd Circuit rules.
July 7, 2005... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication). The disclaimer in a law firm's debt collection letter was sufficient to immunize it from liability under...

Attorneys beware of 8/28, implied statute of limitations.
July 7, 2005... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling (This article originally ran in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication). While it may not be as fast-paced as The Da Vinci Code or as entertaining as 1776, Missouri lawyers...

Commentary: The Simplified Employee Pension IRA is good alternative.
July 7, 2005... Byline: Ben Proctor (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication). The SEP, or Simplified Employee Pension plan, is an uncomplicated alternative to traditional pension plans. The SEP...

Uninsured motorist coverage pays off for auto accident victims.
July 7, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick Two passengers in a vehicle involved in an accident on Father's Day in 2001 were awarded a total of $24,000 by a Jackson County jury. Leedell Lowe and Frankie Alexander were waiting to cross 39th Street on...

Liberty doctor off the hook after finding no sign of staph infection.
July 7, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick A Liberty ear, nose and throat doctor was found not to be responsible for a staph infection that left his patient without the use of his lower body. A Jackson County jury determined that Dr. Matthew E. Beuerlein...

Custodial dad cannot modify New Mexico's custody order, rules COA.
July 8, 2005... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling Even though a divorced father and his child lived in St. Louis for two years, a Missouri court did not have jurisdiction to consider the father's motion to modify the original custody decree entered in New Mexico...

Retaliation claim under False Claims Act is time-barred.
July 8, 2005... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication). A county worker allegedly constructively discharged for reporting misconduct by her co-workers can't sue...

Is interest-only mortgage boom a bust in the making?
July 8, 2005... Byline: David Reich Hale (This article originally ran in Long Island Business News, Long Island, NY, another Dolan Media publication). Interest-only mortgage sales have more than doubled nationwide, giving people a crack at ownership...

Commentary: Perils to guard against at public Internet places.
July 8, 2005... Byline: Rick Edvalson (This article originally ran in Idaho Business Review, Boise, ID, another Dolan Media publication). According to the AAA, a lot of us will be traveling this summer, despite the painfully high gas prices. That...

Commentary: Mainstream news media discover real estate 'bubble'.
July 8, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard (This article originally ran in Finance & Commerce, Minneapolis, MN, another Dolan Media publication). It's unsustainable. It can't go on. It will never last. I'm talking, of course, about the current glut of...

K.C law firm of Shook Hardy & Bacon chosen to protect RIAA from piracy losses.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick Thousands of individuals who download music illegally are becoming familiar with one Kansas City law firm. Shook, Hardy & Bacon has been chosen by the Recording Industry Association of America to handle its...

U.S. Government study hits Dept. of Energy over contracting goals.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Janice Francis-Smith Small businesses haven't been getting their fair share of subcontracts from contractors working with the U.S. Department of Energy, according to a study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. ...

Society for Human Resource Management survey finds poor management equals low productivity.
July 11, 2005... Byline: MIchelle Kowalski Working under bad management can negatively affect a person's productivity. And it seems many people agree. According to the 2005 Workplace Productivity Survey, conducted by the Society for Human Resource...

Commentary: Raising the Bar - 'Emotional intelligence'.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Paul Mark Sandler (This article originally appeared in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) All of us, to one degree or another, continually appeal to the emotions of our listeners. Some people's...

7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules presidential pardon doesn't erase crime.
July 12, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess A presidential pardon may wipe away lingering stains of a crime, but it in no way erases one's guilt under the law, found the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, upholding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's...

American Bar Assn. House of Delegates to convene in Chicago in August.
July 12, 2005... Byline: The Daily Record Staff To what extent should a reporter be able to protect an anonymous source if the reporter is subpoenaed in a federal trial? Have security vulnerabilities in courthouses around the country been reviewed and...

Will banks collapse if home values fall?
July 12, 2005... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication).When Mike Romanoff wanted to buy a one-bedroom condominium in Bethesda, Md., last summer, the prices chilled...

Commentary: It's a gimme - Putting your faith in the lob wedge.
July 12, 2005... Byline: Joe Rahnis (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication). One golfing fad that started a few years ago and appears to be sticking around is the use of a lob wedge. Simply...

Commentary: Putting together a budget to see where things stand.
July 12, 2005... Byline: Jim Wirken As you know the constant structure of these articles is to talk about the five areas that make up every business in the world. Those five areas are as follows: "Clients" or "customers"; "Administration"; "Getting the...

MO Court of Appeals rules tortious infection suit can proceed.
July 13, 2005... Byline: Emily Umbright (This article originally ran in the St. Charles Business Record, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) A woman who contracted genital herpes from her ex-husband can sue for tortious infection, the...

Two-year delay leads Illinois appeals court to reverse murder conviction.
July 13, 2005... Byline: Emily Umbright (This article originally ran in the St. Louis Daily Record, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) The 5th District Appellate Court of Illinois reversed a woman's murder conviction earlier this month...

Illinois Appellate Court says tavern can be sued for attack that occurred outside.
July 13, 2005... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) A plaintiff who was attacked outside after he exited a tavern can sue for negligence, the 2nd District...

Commentary: Harassment claimants don't always claim harassment.
July 13, 2005... Byline: Marshall Tanick (This article originally ran in Minnesota Lawyer, Minneapolis, MN, another Dolan Media publication.) Not all claims about sexual harassment at work are claims for sex harassment in the workplace. This...

Southern District COA rules that mechanic's lien was not deficient.
July 14, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess The devil is in the details, so the saying goes, and that axiom proved true in a legal fight over a mechanic's lien, as the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, reversed a lower court's decision finding the...

Missouri law professors dissect U.S. Supreme Court's recent term.
July 14, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter Although the variety of issues decided by the U.S. Supreme Court make it difficult to put a label on the court's term, area academicians agree that liberals are happier with the court's decisions than are...

ABA seeks comment on revised Model Code of Judicial Conduct.
July 14, 2005... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff A complete preliminary draft of revisions to the American Bar Association Model Code of Judicial Conduct is posted on the ABA Web site with an invitation for comment. "The code addresses issues of judicial...

Commentary: How do you stack up financially?
July 14, 2005... Byline: Gary Williams (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication). Despite a recovering economy and efforts to educate consumers about the importance of planning for retirement, the...

Jackson County jury attributes 70 percent of fault to injured party.
July 14, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick A Jackson County jury found a man to be mostly at fault for the broken elbow he suffered when he tripped and fell at a swap shop. Jerry Elbassani demanded $285,000 before taking Nate Shurin Enterprises Inc., the...

Failure to replace stop sign costs Jackson Co. $150k.
July 14, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick Jackson County must ante up $150,000 after failing to fix a downed stop sign that led to an accident at an intersection outside of Oak Grove. Douglas A. Hensley, Jr. suffered a fractured neck Sept. 1, 2002,...

Fatal accident leads to $250,000 settlement.
July 14, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick A quarter of a million dollars was awarded to the heirs of a woman who died from injuries she suffered in a car wreck. Odessa Sanders was traveling north on Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park, Kan., on May 25,...

8th U.S. Circuit finds partial-birth abortion ban unconstitutional.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter (This article originally ran in the St. Louis Daily Record, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) The federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 is unconstitutional because it lacks an exception to...

Missouri Supreme Court rules that visiting judge had authority to hear case.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess (This article originally ran in the St. Louis Daily Record, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) The authority of a visiting judge may not be questioned, but how that judge adhered to the law can, held...

SBA's small-business development program turns 25.
July 15, 2005... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff (This article originally ran in the St. Charles Business Record, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) The U.S. Small Business Administration announced the 25th anniversary of the...

Commentary: Today's white collar criminals could use a little cosmic justice.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Fred Guy (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) Ancient Greek mythology held that if you were guilty of hubris, a level of arrogance so great that it offended the...

Commentary: Feds weigh in on question of competition in health care industry.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Barry F. Rosen & Cynthia A. Shay (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) Last year, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice issued a joint report...

MO Court of Appeals, Western District rules for father in dispute over increase in child support.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan The Western District says even if you have a bunch of valuable possessions, courts can't order a liquidation of the assets to satisfy child support obligations. It also determined that the law says you must...

Report by American Planning Association studies racial steering.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith (This article originally ran in the Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland, OR, another Dolan Media publication). Racial steering by real estate agents is still practiced, despite federal legislation prohibiting such...

'Hands Off My Home' campaign addresses eminent domain case.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Cathy Kingsley (This article originally ran in the St. Louis Daily Record, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication).Disconcerted property owners all across America do not intend to let the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling...

Commentary: Make life more cushioned.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Chris Wirken I don't have enough time/money/energy/ patience/clients/things to do (items mentioned in this list)! How will this ever work? Life is complicated. We can not control most of it, but what do we do (or fail to do)...

Commentary: Nonprofit reforms recommended.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Betsy Nelson (This article originally ran in the Daily Reporter, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication).Great attention has been paid to the behavior of charities this year. As the ugly side of a small group of nonprofits...

Father home from Iraq will get another chance to retain custody.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Had a solicitor stepped in at the start, one soldier might not have had to visit the Western District Court of Appeals in efforts retain custody of his kids. Although the appellate court agreed that the trial...

7th Circuit rules attorneys' fees in class action appropriate.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Emily Umbright It is perfectly fair for lead counsel on one of 10 Aon Corp. securities class actions to recover 33.3 percent of a $7.25 million settlement, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said recently. The settlement...

LexisNexis law school passwords changed.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Rochester Daily Record Staff LexisNexis has made some changes in their passwords for law school customers mainly because of the recent identity thefts that have caused problems for the company and its associated companies. A...

Commentary: How to prepare the income side of your budget.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Jim Wirken We are still talking about the area of "billing" as the fourth area of the five areas that make up every business in the world. The other four areas are as follows: "Clients" or "customers"; "Administration"; "Getting...

Commentary: Adware and spyware battle for control rages.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Rick Edvalson (This article was originally published in Idaho Business Review, Boise, ID, another Dolan Media publication.) One man's meat is another man's poison. This is nowhere more evident than in the current fight over the...

Anthropologists - deep in the corporate bush.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Marylou Doehrman From banking to retail to high-tech to health care, the anthropological power of observation is in demand. One expects to find anthropologists studying the lifestyles of the Bushmen of southern Africa or the...

MO Supreme Court rules landowners must warn trespassers of any danger.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter (This article originally ran in the St. Louis Daily Record, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) The Missouri Supreme Court sent a message to landowners last week: If you're going to use wire cables or...

Missouri businesses face major workers' comp law changes.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff (This article originally ran in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) Missouri businesses will face major changes on Aug. 28 when the state's new workers'...

American Bar Association advocates jury trial innovations.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) In an endeavor that could affect millions of Americans called for jury duty each year, the American Bar...

Commentary: Judicial independence and American values.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Bob Barton "I think judges should attempt to craft decisions that reflect the values of the taxpayers that they work for." "I would not look favorably on any judge who kept Missourians from advancing legislation that was...

Commentary: Prepare now for bigger tax breaks later.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Dena Frenkel (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) If you are like many taxpayers, you may have just recently recovered from pulling together your receipts and filing...

8th U.S. Circuit rules inventor had valid patent, was not infringed.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess A flurry of problems surrounding an inventor, his patent and the company using it caused the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to split the baby, affirming the validity of the patent and its inventor's conduct before the...

New ATLA president hopes to boost trial lawyers' image.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication). Kenneth M. Suggs knows trial lawyers have an image problem. A wave of public relations campaigns funded...

Foreign business cannot be sued; Internet support company not liable for spamming.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication). The California courts did not have jurisdiction in a products liability suit against the Swiss parent of...

Commentary: The latest on labor injunctions.
July 21, 2005... Byline: John Finerty (This article originally ran in the Wisconsin Law Journal, Milwaukee, WI, another Dolan Media publication). A collective bargaining agreement is a contract between an employer and a labor union. The rules on...

Plaintiff turns down offer, jury returns smaller verdict.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick After passing on a $50,000 offer by the defendant, a woman injured in a 2001 car accident will receive only $25,000. Rebecca G. Seager was a passenger in a vehicle headed southbound on Broadway Boulevard on...

Photographs, medical records damage plaintiff's allegations.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Charles Emerick A defense attorney clearly laid out evidence for the jury and earned a verdict in her favor. Attorney Jennifer R. Rose, whose client was responsible for a minor auto accident, presented enlarged photos and...

Chief Justice Wolff of the Missouri Supreme Court to take stock of judicial system.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter Judge Michael A. Wolff, a former law professor and now chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, plans to take a scholarly look at the state's judicial system in the coming year. The idea is to see whether the...

Worker with bad attitude allowed benefits, MO Court of Appeals rules.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter Continuously employing a worker with a bad attitude ended up costing one employer, as a majority panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, ruled its tolerance and failure to directly address the...

SBA accepting loan applications at workshop.
July 22, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The U.S. Small Business Administration-approved lenders will be accepting loan applications on the spot from eligible entrepreneurs who are looking to borrow $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 to start or expand...

Commentary: SEC liberalizes the capital raising process.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Sanjay M. Shirodkar and Kevin M. Roberts On June 29, 2005, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted extensive amendments to its rules governing public securities offerings under the Securities Act of 1933. The SEC has created...

Commentary: Financial planning for self-employed.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Gary Williams Given today's economic landscape, job security is not what it used to be. Fewer firms are offering pension plans, many are cutting back on medical benefits and others are outsourcing at least a percentage of their...