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

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

States beginning to make moves to put stop to witness intimidation.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) In October 2002 a firebomb went off in Angela Dawson's east Baltimore home, killing Mrs. Dawson,...

More law firms seek to make merger deals.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Jaclyn Jaeger (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) Law firm mergers are on the rise, and the prospect of joining forces is something that many firms, both...

Suit over elevator malfunction ends with $1M settlement.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff (This article was originally published in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) An ironworker injured when a construction elevator malfunctioned received a $1...

Missouri hits new export record.
March 1, 2006... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff (This article was originally published in the St. Charles County Business Record, St. Charles, Mo., another Dolan Media publication.)Missouri has set a new export record in 2005 of $10.5 billion in...

Commentary: Let's do lunch!
March 1, 2006... Byline: Christine Ann Hughes How do you spend your lunch hour at work? More and more employers are expanding employee benefits by offering their employees opportunities during their lunch hour to meet the needs of the whole person. As...

KC Metropolitan Bar Assn. crowns king and queen at Annual LEAP Mardi Gras Luncheon.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick Jolie Justus hasn't had a chance to wear a crown since the 1989 Buccaneer Ball in Branson. As for Sanford Krigel, he's never had the opportunity. Although he joked he was named homecoming queen in high school....

Music minister wins med-mal claim for loss of voice.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff A man who claimed that his vocal cords were injured during a second thyroidectomy surgery has won a $309,644.97 verdict in his medical malpractice case against an ear, nose and throat practice. In...

Meth suits target makers, sellers of cold medicine.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher Cold medicines are the subject of several new lawsuits that claim manufacturers and retailers have long ignored the fact that decongestants containing pseudoephedrine are being used to produce the highly...

Jackson County jury awards Wal-Mart employee $16 million.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A Wal-Mart cashier who was falsely imprisoned and injured in the process was awarded a verdict of nearly $16 million by a Jackson County jury. Roslyn Haley Campbell suffered a contusion to her head and a busted...

Preparation is key to landing government contracts.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Ken Levy Contractors and others wishing to add government agencies to their list of customers need to do a thorough job of preparation before making that first approach. Seminars such as January's "Construction Contracting...

Complex underground utility grids present big challenges to engineers and excavators.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Bill Clements So, how often do you think of exactly what's under your feet as you make your way along a suburban sidewalk or city street? Probably, not often. What's underground is a complex assembly of pipes, cables and...

Non-profit hospitals facing scrutiny due to Sarbanes-Oxley fallout.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Reni Gertner Three years after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act went into effect to improve accountability among publicly traded companies, its complex requirements are making their way into the non-profit sector - and health care lawyers...

Commentary: National Safety Council: Workplace death rates have fallen 17% since 1992.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Mike Boyd The next time someone asks me why I spend so much time at the office I'm going to have a really good answer: It's safer there. According to the National Safety Council, workplace death rates have fallen 17 percent...

Defense lawyer ferrets out potential mass tort scam.
March 4, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson It's every lawyer's dream: uncovering the smoking gun, nailing a witness on the stand - and saving your client millions, possibly billions of dollars in the process. For Daniel J. Mulholland, that dream...

Chief Justice Wolff starts school telecasts.
March 4, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff "What exactly is the rule of law?" That is the question Judge Michael Wolff of the Supreme Court of Missouri posed to eight classrooms across the state on Feb. 23. Wolff was comfortably ensconced in a...

EEOC nailed for 'frivolous' sexual harassment prosecution, must pay $1M.
March 4, 2006... Byline: Natalie White A California federal court judge recently ordered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to pay more than $1 million to a Pasadena law firm that the agency unsuccessfully sued for sexual harassment and pregnancy...

Commentary: Help for health care providers who treat illegal immigrants.
March 4, 2006... Byline: Barry F. Rosen and Jacy D'Aiutolo Hospitals, physicians, ambulance companies, and other health care providers are often called upon to treat people before the provider is able to learn much information about the individuals....

Suing family members can be a trying experience.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Michelle Lore On her way to the airport to catch a flight, a woman was injured when the car in which she was a passenger suddenly struck an object, flipped over and slid down the highway on its roof. The woman sued the recycling...

Multimedia campaigns tell the same story in different ways.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert A good multimedia campaign reinforces itself, according to Ernie Monroe. "When someone hears a radio spot you want them to think, 'I've seen that on TV,'" said the creative director of Davies Rourke Marketing...

Katrina response, Bankruptcy Act top agenda of 2006 Equal Justice Conference.
March 5, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Lawyers and organizations providing legal assistance to the poor face unprecedented challenges from the impact of Hurricane Katrina, the new bankruptcy act, and the growing needs of immigrant clients. The...

Commentary: What's next for BlackBerry devices?
March 5, 2006... Byline: Larry Fiorino BlackBerry users breathed a sigh of relief last week when U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer did not order a shutdown of the popular e-mail service. A patent-holding company, NTP, claims that the Blackberry...

Commentary: The difference between being religious and being spiritual.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Satish B. Parekh There is a difference between being religious and being spiritual. Essentially, it is this: Being religious often requires one to follow the followers; being spiritual, on the other hand, frees one to follow the...

Missouri Court of Appeals finds repetitive motion at old job caused injury.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan A steel company must provide medical treatment and temporary total disability benefits to a former employee who injured his shoulder on the job. In David Pierce v. BSC, Inc. and Builders Assn. Self Insurance...

Experts share secrets for attracting clients, keeping practice growing.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Sheryl M. Vassallo With immense changes happening in the law every day, lawyers have no shortage of pressing matters to which they must devote both time and consideration. Perhaps the most vital and centralized challenge facing...

U.S. Justices nearly drowned in Clean Water Act cases.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson In the first oral arguments before the newly constituted U.S. Supreme Court, the Justices nearly drowned in the Clean Water Act when they heard multiple cases concerning the statute. The Act prohibits the...

Commentary: Disciplined marketing: Professionalizing practice development.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Wayne Davis, Esq. Marketing, sales and overall practice development issues rank on the top 10 list of practice-management concerns among most legal practitioners today. Why is it that the legal profession continues to fall short of...

Breathalyzer accuracy questioned, but not disproved, rules Western District Court of Appeals.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Challenging the accuracy of a state approved breathalyzer machine didn't fly with the Western District Court of Appeals. The unanimous appeals panel reversed the trial court in Craig Alan Kaufman v. Director...

False Claims Act pays whistleblowers to help government tackle fraud.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Rob Larimer (This article was originally published in the Colorado Springs Business Journal, another Dolan Media publication.) When Ross Wright looked out for Uncle Sam's wallet, Uncle Sam looked out for him. In the late...

American Bar Assn.: U.S. mandatory minimums raise human rights concerns.
March 7, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Saying that mandatory minimums are a "one-way ratchet upwards" and cannot "satisfy the basic dictates of fairness," Judge Patricia Wald, testifying on behalf of the American Bar Association, raised a host of...

Commentary: You have three options when it comes to suing a client.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Jim Wirken We are still talking about the last area of the five areas that make up every business in the world, and you know that this fifth area is "collecting." The other four areas that make up every business in the world are:...

Commentary: What to do when the job offer comes too soon.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Stephen E. Seckler (This article was originally published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) You are about to send out cover letters when the phone rings. A recruiter wants to...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case highlights the importance of public trials.
March 8, 2006... Byline: Michelle Lore (This article was originally published in Minnesota Lawyer, Minneapolis, Minn., another Dolan Media publication).The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a man's conviction for aggravated sexual abuse on...

American Bar Assn. urges Congress to stem 'culture of waiver' of attorney-client privilege.
March 8, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff The American Bar Association urges Congress to exercise stronger oversight of federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies to stem what it describes as a "culture of waiver" that has weakened the...

U.S. Supreme Court rules law schools can't bar military recruiters.
March 8, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber (This article was originally published in The Daily Record, Baltimore, Md., another Dolan Media publication).A unanimous Supreme Court Monday handed the military a victory over law schools angry at its "don't ask,...

Commentary: Every lawyer should be part of a team.
March 8, 2006... Byline: Edward Poll (This article was originally published in Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, another Dolan Media publication.)When we're on the road to handle a trial, negotiate a deal or market our practice, there is a temptation to enjoy...

8th Circuit rules school district cannot force disability screening.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright A school district cannot force a disability screening upon a child if the parents refuse consent and waive benefits under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said...

E-Discovery: Business is booming and lawyers are getting in.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh Five years ago, law firms reacted with extreme skepticism when Michele Lange suggested that they needed an electronic discovery expert. Lange, a staff attorney with Kroll Ontrack Inc., a vendor that specializes in...

Fatal accident leads to $300K settlement with insurers.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The family of a man who died in a car accident has settled their wrongful death case against the driver, his insurance company and their own carrier for $300,000. On July 15, 2005, Gary Moore, 37, had...

Foot injury leads to $25,000 verdict by Jackson County jury.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A woman injured in a car accident was recently awarded $25,000 by a Jackson County jury.Sylvia Balke was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her husband, Otto, when the accident occurred at the intersection of...

Commentary: Turn hips correctly for straight shots on the golf course.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Joe Rahnis A major key to the golf swing that many golfers (especially beginners) overlook is keeping their hips from swaying instead of turning with the swing. Swaying hips rob the golf swing of power and can also cause shots to...

Architecture Registration Exam not drawing interest from graduates.
March 10, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan (This article was originally published in the Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland, Ore., another Dolan Media publication.)Although the Architecture Registration Exam isn't the mind-meld marathon it once was, it's still...

Teams selected for Urban Land Institute competition.
March 10, 2006... Byline: Cathy Kingsley (This article was originally published in The Daily Record, St. Louis, Mo., another Dolan Media publication.)Teams representing Columbia University, Harvard University (two), and the University of California,...

Forecast: Weather kind to contractors.
March 10, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan (This article was originally published in The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee, Wis., another Dolan Media publication.)The nationwide bout of friendly weather in 2005 could have both positive and negative impacts on contractors...

How to ... Choose a private banker.
March 10, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee (This article was originally published in Long Island Business News, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., another Dolan Media publication.)As the rich get richer, protecting and growing their assets becomes a bigger job....

Avoiding the common pitfalls of family law practice.
March 11, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter (This article was originally published in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication).Judge Dennis Smith, a family law attorney for 17 years before taking the bench in St. Louis County in...

Headhunters filling new tech gaps.
March 11, 2006... Byline: Joan Johnson When the phone on your desk rings, don't be surprised if there's a headhunter on the other end. As the number of chief executives increases, from 444,000 in 2004 to 500,000 this year, the number of corporate recruiters...

Do you really want to be a 'friend of the court'?
March 11, 2006... Byline: Michelle Lore Amicus curiae really does mean "friend of the court," appellate attorneys stressed at a recent continuing legal education seminar.On Feb. 24, the Minnesota State Bar Association's Appellate Practice Section presented...

Findings did not match allegations in parental rights termination case.
March 12, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Despite the dreadful living conditions outlined by the Western District in a parental rights termination case, there is still a chance the mother could retain custody of her children.The Western District Court of...

House Democrats object to SBA cuts.
March 12, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn House Democrats released a 52-page report released last week claiming that the President Bush's fiscal 2007 budget cuts needed programs and will impede small business growth. The House Small Business Committee's...

ABA international law meeting to address wide-ranging issues.
March 12, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff How is reconstruction really going in Iraq, and what are the prospects for a stable economy and government in that country? Are there more effective roles for the United States, the United Nations and...

Commentary: AOL throws open doors on instant messaging product.
March 12, 2006... Byline: Larry Fiorino America Online, the largest instant messaging provider, opened its source code up last week for developers around the world to write add-on components and additional functionality. This move toward open source coding...

Commentary: Legislation needed to protect U.S. private property rights.
March 12, 2006... Byline: William O. Pitts Private property rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, long a sacrosanct principle, have come under judicial attack. The high court's decision left the taking of private property by a...

Statements during interrogation properly suppressed, MO Court of Appeals finds.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Videotaped interrogations helped the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District pinpoint the moment when questioning in a baby murder case became custodial.The court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded...

Children awarded father's life insurance proceeds.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Four children who made claims on their father's life insurance policy have been awarded $126,237 in a federal interpleader action filed by the insurance company in response to an additional claim filed...

7th Circuit rules policy's act of war exclusion includes drunk driving.
March 13, 2006... Byline: David Ziemer The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held on Feb. 27 that a health insurance policy's act of war exclusion also excludes coverage for injuries resulting from operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Bryan D....

Commentary: Surviving a tax audit takes help from a professional.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Tracy Coenen With tax time upon us, it seems fitting to discuss tax audits. Whether you are being audited personally or as a business owner, it can be an intimidating process. There is a right way and a wrong way to handle an audit...

Western District Court of Appeals rules failure to rebut director's case leads to suspension.
March 14, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan You don't even have to be driving to lose your license for DUI under the jurisdiction of the Missouri Courts.Since the defendant failed to rebut the director of revenue's prima facie case, the Western District...

Kansas time bar applies to wrongful death lawsuit filed in Missouri.
March 14, 2006... Byline: Thomas F. Harrison (This article was originally published in Missouri Lawyers Weekly, St. Louis, MO, another Dolan Media publication.)A Missouri doctor who allegedly missed a Kansas patient's cancer can't be sued for wrongful death...

Mock juries offer trial run for savvy lawyers.
March 14, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik (This article was originally published in Long Island Business News, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., another Dolan Media publication.)Call it a tale of two trials. When John P. McEntee was trying a breach of contract case in 2003...

Commentary: Show your work: Documentation for collections.
March 14, 2006... Byline: Jim Wirken We are continuing to talk about the last area of the five areas that make up every business in the world, this fifth area is "collecting." The other four areas that make up every business in the world are: "Clients" or...

Commentary: Economic theory and the law.
March 14, 2006... Byline: Judge Steven I. Platt (This article was originally published in The Daily Record, Baltimore, Md., another Dolan Media publication.)The social and economic "costs" of initiating and applying public policy in accordance with a...

MO COA rulles driver's license revocation stands despite lack of machine print-out.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan An incomplete blow into a breathalyzer is tantamount to a refusal and punishable by license suspension, according to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.There were a couple of errors the Western...

Debate continues on statewide franchise bill in Missouri.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Kathleen T. Brady (This article was originally published in the St. Charles County Business Record, St. Charles, Mo., another Dolan Media publication).Will statewide franchise agreements with competitive video service providers...

U.S. Supreme Court justices debate third-party guilt.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, another Dolan Media publication).Each of the nine justices of the new U.S. Supreme Court got involved in the case of Holmes v. South Carolina,...

Personal injury defense lawyers face rise in malpractice claims.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.)Several years ago, Benjamin H. Hill III defended a malpractice claim lodged against a Florida personal...

U.S. Supreme Court rules arbitrator must decide validity of contract.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Lawyers Weekly USA Staff (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.)When the validity of an entire contract is challenged, and not simply an arbitration clause...

Face-to-face meetings still beat Web teleconferencing.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Becky Hurley (This article was originally published in the Colorado Springs Business Journal, another Dolan Media publication.)Nearly two-thirds of business travelers are taking fewer trips and almost eight in 10 say they are...

Commentary: Private Letter Ruling addresses irrevocable trust technique.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey A. Baskies (This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, another Dolan Media publication.)In a Private Letter Ruling (No. 200603040) issued on Jan. 20, the IRS concluded that the popular technique of making...

More downtown lane reductions begin Monday in Kansas City.
March 17, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A heavily traveled section of Oak Street will be reduced to two lanes of traffic in order to perform storm sewer and water line construction.The reduction from Truman Road to 13th Street comes less than two months...

Gulf Coast may have big impact on construction costs.
March 17, 2006... Byline: Brian Johnson (This article was originally published in Finance and Commerce, Minneapolis, Minn., another Dolan Media publication.)When Gulf Coast reconstruction begins in earnest - presumably by the third quarter of this year -...

CSI: Construction Scene Investigation.
March 17, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker (This article was originally published in the Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland, Ore., another Dolan Media publication.)The marks appeared like mysterious halos. Perfect green circles were scattered like a fungal...

Commentary: St. Patrick's Day can mean legal troubles.
March 17, 2006... Byline: Marshall Tanick (This article was originally published in Minnesota Lawyer, Minneapolis, Minn., another Dolan Media publication.)St. Patrick's Day probably will generate more revelry than usual this year because it falls on Friday...

Doctors walk tightrope in providing financial advice.
March 18, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Dr. James Hardee, a physician with many elderly patients, has always dealt with the tough medical questions. Lately he's been spending more time on tough financial questions as well. But amid increasing costs borne by...

Federal jury awards teacher record $18M against L.A. County Sheriff.
March 18, 2006... Byline: Natalie White In a case of mistaken identity, a federal jury in California recently awarded a record $18 million to a middle school teacher who claimed a Los Angeles sheriff's detective falsely arrested him, accused him of...

Supreme Court asked if state can require suspicionless parolee searches.
March 18, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson In the first criminal case before the newly formed U.S. Supreme Court, the justices debated the standard a state may impose on searches of its parolees. The state of California defended its right to regulate...

Commentary: Must you return every client call promptly?
March 18, 2006... Byline: Edward Poll Two of my favorite "blawgers," Tom Collins (www.morepartnerincome.com) and Carolyn Elefant (www.myshingle.com), recently raised an interesting online point/counterpoint. Tom cited the case of a young partner who always...

Knowing is half the battle, especially for new hires.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Amy Gillentine Workplace assaults total 2 million each year. Employee theft costs $40 billion annually and causes 30 percent of business failures. Lawsuits for negligent hiring are on the rise and can cost a company millions. But...

U.S. Chamber pushes for liability protections.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik After Arthur Andersen's dissolution in 2002, a question hovered over the accounting industry: Could a scandal that destroys a major firm happen again? One group is calling for steps to prevent that. Amid the onslaught...

How to . . . Choose an audit firm.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Who needs an audit firm? You might, if you plan to apply for a bank loan. Before committing to a loan, the bank may require an independent firm to audit your company. Looking to sell your company? Potential...

Commentary: Limiting the perils of gabbing while driving.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Rick Edvalson I don't know what I would do without my personal cell phone. But I know what I would do with some of the others. Even after the reminder that the theater gives you to shut off your phone, someone's phone will start...

COA opens door for attorney's fee claims against state.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan At first, it looks like a typical appellate court rendering. However, a case out of the Western District Court of Appeals could potentially open the door for paid-for legal representation in a number of citizen...

Missouri's funeral protest law may end up struck down by the court.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Thomas F. Harrison Fred Phelps, the furiously anti-gay minister whose picketing at military funerals sparked Missouri's new law against funeral protests, has an interesting item on his website: photocopies of checks totaling...

A look at influences on federal court caseload in 2005.
March 19, 2006... Byline: NY Daily Record Staff In fiscal year 2005, the workload of the federal judiciary was affected in part by U.S. Supreme Court decisions, new legislation and forces of nature. Filings of appeals reached record highs, while civil and...

Commentary: Legal aid to poor gaining international momentum.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Wilhelm H. Joseph Jr. and Joe Surkiewicz The concept of providing legal counsel to low-income people in civil cases isn't novel. For example, the right to a lawyer is recognized in England, whose legal system we adopted when the...