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

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

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says church can protest funerals.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A federal appeals court said members of a Topeka, Kan., church have the right to picket military funerals while a lower court considers a First Amendment challenge to a Missouri law prohibiting the protests. The 8th...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District dismisses ballot challenge.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An appeals court on Friday rejected a challenge that sought to remove a home care initiative from Tuesday's ballot. In a special hand down from the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District, the court dismissed the...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A class of plaintiffs that received a $99 million verdict earlier this year is asking an appeals court to reverse a judge's decisions that denied them millions of extra dollars. The plaintiffs raised two issues...

Lee Wells, former Jackson County judge, dies at 77.(Obituary)
November 4, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Lee E. Wells, a former Jackson County judge who presided over the flood of litigation that followed the Kansas City drug-dilution case, died last week, according to court officials. He was 77. Wells served on the...

Gov. Blunt loses dismissal of defamation lawsuit.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Gov. Matt Blunt and four of his staff members will remain defendants in the lawsuit brought by his former deputy general counsel. Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners on Friday denied most of Blunt's motions...

Commentary: The hippy judge and the Rule in Shelley's Case.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Everyone remembers the Rule in Shelley's Case, from first-year Property, but how many of you have actually used it in court? Over beers recently with a veteran mentor I got a gem that I won't soon use in my travels in...

St. Louis-based Bryan Cave acquires Powell Goldstein.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Bryan Cave and its new merger partner share about a dozen clients, a bank and a conservative approach to finances, according to leaders at the two firms. St. Louis-based Bryan Cave reached a deal last week to acquire...

Constitution permits rise in tax assessment, Missouri Supreme Court rules.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Tuesday was a tough day for taxpayers -- at least for those taxpayers hoping the Missouri Supreme Court would order refunds. In one of four tax-related opinions, the court said an increase in revenue from Franklin...

Odor of deceased prior tenant in St. Louis apartment shows extremes of landlord-tenant disputes.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Ryan and Amanda Findlay's excitement at their new apartment quickly turned to disappointment when, after they had signed their lease and moved in, they discovered a terrible odor. Eventually, the Findlays learned from...

Missouri Supreme Court to hear arguments today, Thursday.
November 5, 2008... Byline: The Daily Record Staff The Missouri Supreme Court has a full bench again, just three months after Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. left for a federal court position. Judge Zel Fischer, picked last month by Gov. Matt Blunt, is...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District overturns $825,000 jury verdict.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District overturned an $825,000 jury verdict for a man whose hip fracture went undiagnosed for several weeks. The court remanded the case for a new trial after finding that the...

Challenge to abortion-clinic law continues in Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri continued its effort on Tuesday to have allegedly vague abortion-clinic regulations struck down. In arguments before the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District, the...

Election 2008: Lawyers gain one seat in Missouri Legislature.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck and Kelly Wiese Jay Nixon and Chris Koster weren't the only lawyers elected to state positions on Tuesday. Most lawyers already in the state Senate and House retained their seats, and in a few cases attorneys gained new...

Election 2008: Voters retain all Missouri judges under Plan.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Voters retained St. Louis County Associate Circuit Judge Dale Hood on Tuesday despite a recommendation by a Missouri Bar evaluation committee that they vote him off the bench. A total of 230,183 voters, or 54.25...

Election 2008: Kansas City light rail lawsuit left in limbo.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Despite a heavy campaign by city officials and local law firms, Kansas City voters on Tuesday rejected a plan to build a light rail starter line. The 56-percent to 44-percent vote against the $815 million project is...

Kansas City attorney Ensz explains sending questionnaire to jurors.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City attorney explained before a federal judge on Wednesday why he mailed a letter and questionnaire to jurors following a recent trial. James Ensz testified he wasn't aware of any federal rules that...

Contested vet bill by former K.C. employee leads to firing, lawsuit.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A former Kansas City employee denies that he tried to have the city foot a veterinarian bill for treatment of his dog, Dottie. In a lawsuit filed in Jackson County on Tuesday, Tony Felitsky challenged his firing...

Lon Hocker Society seeks to raise bar on professionalism among Missouri's lawyers.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley One of Thomas Burke's goals as president of the Missouri Bar is to promote professionalism among lawyers. In an effort to do so, Burke has formed the Lon Hocker Society, filled with past recipients of the bar's Lon O....

Fire district, city of Lee's Summit spar in Mo. Supreme Court over taxes for service.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could affect the existence of fire protection districts across the state. The dispute before the court was between the South Metropolitan Fire...

Federal jury in St. Louis awards sex researcher $2.4M for unjust enrichment.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Sex researcher Virginia Johnson won a $2.4 million jury verdict against a health care management company for using the Masters and Johnson service mark to market treatment programs that have nothing to do with sexual...

Shanahan, other execs sued by shareholders in St. Louis City Circuit Court.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A class action lawsuit has been filed by the former shareholders of Engineered Support Systems against Michael Shanahan Sr., Gary Gerhardt and other executives of ESSI as well as DRS Technologies Inc.'s CEO for their...

Major award of '06 partly restored by Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck One of the largest jury verdicts of 2006 was eventually reduced to a 15th of its original size by the trial court. On Friday, an appeals court partially restored the award as punishment for the reprehensible behavior of...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Several years after Philip Koppe argued successfully for his clients before the Missouri Supreme Court, the lawyer is getting paid for his services. However, the $150,000 verdict Koppe received from a Jackson County...

L.A. federal judge to conduct pretrial hearing in trial of O'Fallon woman.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A Los Angeles federal judge is scheduled to conduct a pretrial hearing this morning about what evidence will, and will not, be allowed in the trial of Lori Drew Drew is charged with creating a fake MySpace account to...

Kansas City mayor, wife sue city over ordinance.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Mayor Mark Funkhouser and his wife contend the Kansas City Council's passage of a recent ordinance constitutes special legislation aimed squarely at the city's first family. In a lawsuit filed Friday in Jackson...

Commentary: The presidential election offers aftertaste of hope.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier We elected a black man to the highest office in our country. We elected a black man, from a mixed-race, single-parent home to the highest office in our country. We elected a black man, from a single-parent home that...

Jackson County jury returns defense verdict in suit against Union Pacific Railroad.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Union Pacific Railroad will not have to pay damages to a former employee who was shot on the job. A Jackson County jury on Monday returned a defense verdict for the railroad company, which was sued by a man...

Name partner David Butsch exits St. Louis firm Green Jacobson.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Three attorneys have split off from the Green Jacobson firm to start their own shop. David Butsch, who had been a name partner with Green Jacobson & Butsch, launched the new firm in Clayton on Nov. 1 with former...

Kansas City woman drops suit against McCain-Palin.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick The Kansas City woman who feared for president-elect Barack Obama's life dropped her lawsuit against his former opponents. Mary Kay Green last month sued U.S. Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, contending...

Settlement with Goldman Sachs finishes Missouri's Gen Am litigation.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole A $100 million settlement with Goldman Sachs marks the end of the road for litigation over the 1999 collapse of General American Life. The settlement approved Nov. 13 brings to $242 million the total collected from...

Kansas City Chiefs' Larry Johnson sued for alleged assault.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was sued on Monday for allegedly threatening a woman at a Plaza bar last month. Ashley Stewart, of Lawrence, contends Johnson spit a drink in her face and threatened to...

Wrongfully convicted man sues St. Louis County, police.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Johnny Briscoe had made up his mind. Convicted in 1983 of a rape he didn't commit, the inmate decided he would tell the parole board what it wanted to hear at his September 2006 parole hearing. He would take...

Post-trial decision may impact Missouri's tort reform.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A judge's impending ruling on post-trial motions in a medical malpractice case has the potential to impact the tort reform law. In July, a St. Louis County jury awarded $2.58 million, including $1 million in...

Kansas City lawyer in Allstate lawsuit faces sanction.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick In a career built largely on defending bad faith claims against insurers, it was Paul Hasty Jr.'s own act of bad faith that has him facing disciplinary action. Hasty, who has primarily handled insurance defense work...

Half-cent fee for Missouri's motor-vehicle records struck down.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A section of Missouri law ordering fees for accessing motor-vehicle records was struck down by a Cole County judge. The decision by Judge Patricia Joyce on Monday targets a last-minute addition during the...

Missouri Supreme Court considers child molester's request to see his children.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A man convicted of molesting his 12-year-old stepdaughter is challenging the constitutionality of a state law that denies him unsupervised visitation and custody of his biological children. The Missouri Supreme Court...

Kansas City lawyer fights probation for altercation.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City attorney with a history of disciplinary action is looking at more severe punishment for allegedly trying to fight a client. Roy King Jr., a member of the bar since 1985, is accused of violating ethical...

U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, urges legal protection for troops.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton brings a country lawyer's sensibility to his role as chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. So when he discusses the pressing challenges of America's military, his concerns are both...

Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan tosses lawsuit over life sciences funding.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Opponents of early stem-cell research have lost a battle in court. A group had sued various state officials during the summer, asking the court to clarify the validity of a state law and budget process in light of a...

Criminologists gather in St. Louis to learn latest trends.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley About 2,500 criminologists from all over the globe converged on St. Louis this week for the American Society of Criminology's annual meeting. Criminologists employed in academia, state agencies, police departments and...

Suit over sex-offender Halloween restrictions still haunts courts in Missouri.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The ghosts and goblins have gone home for another year, but litigation about restrictions on sex offenders' Halloween activities goes on. On Tuesday, Gov. Matt Blunt and Attorney General Jay Nixon filed a motion to...

Charity denied damages from Kansas City accountants.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City accounting partnership escaped having to pay millions of dollars for allegedly botching an audit of a children's charity. A Jackson County jury used less than an hour to return defense verdicts in...

Fatal I-44 truck crash in Missouri to settle for $1.4 million.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Attorneys have asked a federal judge to approve a $1.4 million settlement in a wrongful death case from St. Louis County. According to documents filed this week with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals allows search of condemned building.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter St. Louis police had the right to search a condemned building for evidence the illegal occupants planned to incite violence to protest the World Agricultural Forum in St. Louis five years ago, a federal appeals court...

Female newscasters file age, gender discrimination claims against Kansas City station.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Three female news newscasters over the age of 45 have filed age and gender discrimination claims against KMBC-TV in Kansas City, echoing a groundbreaking suit against same station in the early 1980s. The newscasters...

Dan Rather discusses own lawsuit, press independence during talk at Washington Univ. School of Law.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Former CBS anchorman Dan Rather has a new perspective on the law these days. He has moved from decades of covering law and government to being directly involved in a lawsuit as a plaintiff. Rather's $70 million suit...

Missouri's short-staffed salary commission meets in a rush, again.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Two years ago, a state salary commission rushed through its required meetings to issue recommendations by Dec. 1 as the constitution requires. The time is here again, and the schedule is just as hurried, but few have...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: November 17, 2008.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick The Missouri Supreme Court will not hear arguments in an arbitration dispute involving Hallmark Cards. The Kansas City-based greeting card company asked the court to review an opinion by the Missouri Court of...

Commentary: U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in monument case.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier In the fall of 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Jaws were tops at the movie theaters, UCLA had won its 10th NCAA Men's Basketball championship in 12 years, and I turned 4 as my parents announced the impending...

8th Circuit rules insurers should have been informed of likely class action suits.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A federal appeals court said two insurance companies do not have to cover Kansas City-based H&R Block for class action lawsuits filed over the tax preparation company's refund anticipation loan program between 1996 and...

Man sues Kansas City Health Department over lost promotion.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A man of Nigerian ancestry contends he was demoted from his prominent job within the Kansas City Health Department due to his sex and national origin. Eniola J. Olomiye sued the city and two health department...

Jennings police officers unionize under court ruling.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Police officers for the city of Jennings have become the first officers in St. Louis County to be certified as union-represented. The move came after the Missouri Supreme Court lifted a 60-year ban on collective...

Salary commission urged to raise Missouri judiciary's pay.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck In the face of a faltering economy and historically skeptical lawmakers, Missouri's legal community is again pushing for judges to get raises. A state salary commission met Tuesday morning in Kansas City to discuss a...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District puts a nail in Schoemehl's coffin.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A panel of appeals judges ruled that a woman missed the window to take advantage of a controversial 2007 Missouri Supreme Court decision. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesday denied Marianne...

St. Louis school boards fight in court for control.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Lawyers for the St. Louis Public School District's two school boards and for the Missouri State Board of Education were before the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing about which school board has the right to...

Jackson County jury awards $1M for medical malpractice.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kingsville family received a rare seven-figure plaintiff's verdict in their lawsuit against a Clinton doctor for medical malpractice. On Tuesday, a Jackson County jury awarded $1 million to Alex and Megan...

Grant will assist inmates at Kansas City's Municipal Correctional Institution.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Several Kansas City organizations are partnering in an attempt to slow the revolving door of mentally ill inmates at Kansas City's Municipal Correctional Institution. Building Respect Integrity Determination Goals...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District rules directory's dentist listing not misleading.(Directory)
November 20, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A panel of judges determined that the American Associations of Orthodontists had failed to state a claim when it sued Yellow Book USA Inc. for unfair competition for listing general dentists as orthodontists in its...

Engineer files suit in U.S. District Court in St. Louis against Boeing, alleges discrimination.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A former Boeing engineer says the aerospace company fired him because he warned his supervisors the company was defrauding the federal government and be-cause his supervisors wanted a younger manager to take his place....

U.S. District judge says dentist breached agreement by invoking Fifth.
November 25, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter An insurance company does not have to pay the $2.4 million settlement agreed to in a wrongful death suit against a University City dentist. James E. Bubenik and the family of Henry M. Johnston entered into a so-called...

Longtime Springfield lawyer Glenn Burkart remembered.(Obituary)
November 25, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A longtime lawyer and founder of a Springfield defense firm has died. Glenn Burkart was remembered by colleagues as a legendary litigator and great storyteller who also took the time to serve as a mentor to younger...

Former Afghan AG decries lawlessness in his country during speech at Washington University.
November 25, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The former attorney general of Afghanistan, and now a candidate to become its next president, says lawlessness and corruption are problems in his country, but he could help solve them if he becomes its leader. Abdul...

In Missouri, judges' raises tied to state employees'.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese In a tough economy, with state revenues shaky, a state commission charged with setting salaries called for treating judges and elected officials like any other state employee. The half-staffed Citizens Commission on...

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District bars claim of educational malpractice.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka A student cannot sue her teacher for failing to teach her adequate skills. For years, Missouri and most other states have upheld that concept by striking down claims based on educational malpractice. On Tuesday, the...

Independence lawyer told to repay lost investment.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck An Independence attorney will pay $575,000 after losing a widowed investor's money, the Missouri Secretary of State's Office said Tuesday. According to a consent order filed with the office's enforcement section, H....

Missouri Court of Appeals says developers have standing to challenge property assessments.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A Missouri appeals court gave the go-ahead for two real estate developers to challenge Jefferson County Assessor Randy Holman's increased valuation of property the developers sold in 2005. A hearing officer of the...

Governor Blunt fills vacancies in 22nd, 4th Circuits.
November 26, 2008... Byline: The Daily Record Staff Gov. Matt Blunt announced two appointments to state courts on Tuesday. Theresa Counts Burke will be an associate circuit judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit, and Corey K. Herron will be an associate circuit...

Director of civil records for Jackson County Circuit Court's 30-day project became a 40-year career.
November 27, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Mary Ann McClure just wanted something to keep her busy for the occasional hour or two. But what she got was a job that has now spanned decades. McClure, director of civil records for the Jackson County Circuit...

Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association annual meeting to host Scott Turow.
November 27, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Staff The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association meets a week from today for its 124th annual meeting, giving an expected 950 lawyers and judges a chance to take stock of a tumultuous year. The...