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

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

Commentary: Justice has its costs -- for clients and me.
October 1, 2006... Byline: Craig Napier I practice a growing amount of family law. And in what is either a good decision or a chump choice, I take payments. I come up with a payment plan that a potential client says he can live with, get enough money up...

Negro Leagues museum brought into family feud, lawsuit over memorabilia.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick William F. Bankhead is adamant that the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is turning a profit on items of memorabilia that belong to his family. His father, Dan, was the first black pitcher in the major leagues and one...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: October 2, 2006.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick Judge Dean retires Friday marked the end of more than 17 years on the bench for Judge K. Preston Dean, who officially retired. Dean, who announced his retirement in early August, will still occasionally fill in on...

Cheryl K. Rose named CLE director.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff Cheryl K. Rose was named the new director of continuing legal education for the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. As the director, Rose coordinates all aspects of CLE seminars. She works with committee...

Kansas City teen faces second-degree murder charge.
October 3, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff A Kansas City teen was charged last week with second-degree murder stemming from a Sept. 10 shooting. Keith D. Bly, 18, allegedly shot Craig L. Austin, 35, at a home near 59th Street and Cypress Avenue....

Commentary: Key to disagreement is where you stand after making your point.
October 3, 2006... Byline: Jim Wirken I am sure we have all heard our parents at one time or another tell us to "kill them with kindness" when talking about how we should treat people who have not been very nice to us. Every time I hear this, I feel...

'Patent trolls' make their way into spotlight.
October 3, 2006... Byline: Allison Retka A balding troll doll adorned the podium at The Missouri Bar's panel of patent attorneys last week. At issue were patent trolls, those sometimes-nefarious entities that make it their business to root through...

Information turns into aesthetic.
October 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik As the legal world sails deeper into electronic waters, law firms are using their collections of stately looking books more for decorative purposes than research. Law firm libraries -- containing years' worth of cases...

Plaintiffs injured by E. coli-infected spinach prepare for litigation.
October 3, 2006... Byline: Mark A. Cohen As health officials continue to investigate an E. coli outbreak that resulted in the pulling of bagged spinach from supermarket shelves across the country, injured plaintiffs are already lining up at the courthouse...

Baltimore judge approves same-day counseling, filing.
October 3, 2006... Byline: Barbara Grzincic A Chapter 13 petition can be filed the same day the debtor sought credit counseling, a bankruptcy judge in Baltimore has ruled. Judges in the District of Columbia and Tennessee have reached the opposite result...

Kansas City woman claims Vioxx caused two heart attacks.
October 3, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City woman who claimed she took Vioxx for nearly three years filed a lawsuit last week against the drug's maker. In the suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Jo Levitt alleged that Merck's...

Jackson County jury sees footage of deadly wreck.
October 4, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A Jackson County jury continues to hear testimony this week on the injuries a Louisiana family sustained when their vehicle was struck by a train five years ago. Attorneys for the plaintiffs presented during the...

Case highlights flaws in debt collector law.
October 4, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter Every minute of every day is how often one attorney says illegal debt-collection practices are used against consumers. Debra K. Lumpkins, managing attorney of the consumer unit for Gateway Legal Services, said she had...

Battle brewing over Web access for blind.
October 4, 2006... Byline: Joan Johnson In 1992, The Americans with Disabilities Act became law. The act provides equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: October 4, 2006.
October 4, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Justice Department awards $900K to area agencies Bradley J. Schlozman, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the Department of Justice had awarded grants of $450,000 each to...

Wiretap laws may criminalize use of spyware.
October 4, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright A secret Internet tool once reserved for use by savvy marketers and vicious identity thieves is working to the benefit of estranged spouses, say family law attorneys who spoke last week at The Missouri Bar annual...

Lawsuit: School won't let girl read Bible.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Ann W. Parks As her champion tells the story, 13-year-old Amber Mangum had just learned about the First Amendment in a history class. And the lesson was still fresh in her head when, after eating lunch on Sept. 14, the...

Bar investigates racial disparity in judge surveys.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Allison Retka Treading into the emotionally charged issue of race relations, the Mound City Bar Association in St. Louis will hold a special meeting tonight to discuss possible racial or gender disparities in The Missouri Bar's...

E E-discovery makes way as law's digital dynamo.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik After a top salesman left a firm, his former employer said he violated a noncompete clause. The salesman insisted he was just trying to make a living. The he-said, she-said might have ended in a legal stalemate. Enter...

Charges filed in 2005 New Year's Day homicide.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff A Shawnee man was charged Tuesday in connection with a New Year's Day shooting in 2005. Rodney E. Carter, 26, allegedly shot two people near the intersection of 31st and Oak streets on Jan. 1, 2005, after they...

Coal company wins suit against state employee.
October 5, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff An area coal company recently won a $6.46 million jury verdict against a Missouri Department of Natural Resources employee on the grounds that he intentionally interfered with the business's operations. ...

If calls keep coming, bar crisis program may peak.
October 6, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter Jim Brady, director of The Missouri Bar's counseling program, says practicing law shouldn't be painful. It shouldn't hurt to be a lawyer. It should be challenging and demanding, yes. But it shouldn't hurt, he said. If...

UMKC Dean Ellen Suni wins justice service award.
October 6, 2006... Byline: Angie Hanson Ellen Suni is not exactly sure why she won a Spurgeon Smithson Award. "Some tend to win the award because of a big project they undertook," said Suni, dean of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. "I...

Baltimore court finds way to put emphasis on treatment, not jail.
October 6, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber In the court system's struggle to deal with defendants who have both mental illness and substance abuse problems, Baltimore District Judge Charlotte M. Cooksey has found a method she thinks really works. Cooksey runs...

DNA helps prosecutors file charges in 1997 rape case.
October 6, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Jackson County prosecutors filed charges Wednesday in a nine-year-old rape case. Christopher L. Alexander, 32, of Kansas City, was charged with one count of forcible rape and two counts of second-degree sexual...

Commentary: Client relationships can cause all kinds of problems.
October 6, 2006... Byline: Mike Hoeflich Sex with a client is always unwise. Most of the time it is also unethical and can lead to serious disciplinary action. The most important consideration in deciding whether lawyer-client sex is unethical concerns the...

Meet my mother, the well-shod juror.
October 6, 2006... Byline: Will Connaghan For many people, a jury duty notice in the mail is the same as a life sentence without parole, but not for my 81-year-old mother. She was recently called to serve as a federal court juror. The notice arrived on a...

Three senators say judge's decision may hurt churches.
October 7, 2006... Byline: The (Rochester) Daily Record staff Three senators have asked U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to correct a ruling made by a judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of New York that they say misinterprets the new...

Triangle gets tangled among department, officer, lawyer.
October 7, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber The lawyer for a fired Baltimore police officer may continue to represent the officer in his wrongful termination suit against police officials, even though the lawyer, a former attorney for the police department, is...

Appeals court holds e-newsletter qualifies for media protection.
October 7, 2006... Byline: Cynthia Di Pasquale A Maryland law that protects members of the media from being compelled to disclose their sources applies to the publisher of an electronic financial newsletter, the Court of Special Appeals held last month....

How to ... successfully move your firm's office with less disruption.
October 8, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Moving your offices is a time-consuming and costly task. One of the biggest costs is the interruption to your business before, during and after the move, but you can minimize this disruption by planning well in...

Bar found not liable for rape of intoxicated patron.
October 8, 2006... Byline: David E. Frank A bar that served alcohol to an intoxicated woman could not be held liable for negligence concerning her claim she was later raped by a third party at a neighboring hotel, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge has...

Lawyer waived right to cry fraud, appeals court rules.
October 8, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber A lawyer who signed an unfavorable loan agreement against the advice of his attorneys, then lost his property and sued his creditors for fraud is out of luck. In an opinion issued last week, the Maryland Court of...

Commentary: Another brick in the wall, part 3.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Craig Napier It seems I am continually frustrated by clients and their complete lack of respect for my time and energy. Last spring a veteran office partner of mine took a pair of felony cases for a couple who were charged with...

Firms report strong free-agent market.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick Mark Foster knows the calls come daily to lawyers at his law firm, Stinson Morrison Hecker. As offices in Kansas City continue to grow, the more they seek out lateral talent, the managing partner said. "It's...

Basketball injury ends in $350,000 verdict.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick An unusual injury during a gym class basketball game has cost Ruskin High School and the Hickman Mills School District more than $350,000. Following two days of evidence, a Jackson County jury on Thursday awarded...

Missouri-based appliance maker sues NBC.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright In the backdrop of a shocking scene depicting a girl's bloody, mangled hand sits an Emerson-brand garbage disposal. That bit of unintended product placement received national attention this week after the St....

Kansas City Legal Briefs: October 9, 2006.
October 9, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Lee's Summit man indicted for child porn distribution A Lee's Summit man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to distributing child pornography over the Internet. James Curtis...

Judge refuses stay order for Bibles.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter A federal judge has refused to order a stay in a case between a southeastern Missouri school district and community members over the distribution of Bibles to students. The judge's decision means discovery may...

Merck stays with plan after mixed Vioxx score.
October 10, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson Two years after Merck pulled the painkiller Vioxx from the market, 10 personal injury lawsuits have reached verdicts with mixed results for the drug maker. After losing a $235 million verdict in the first trial...

Brother of NY man suing Negro Leagues Baseball Museum disputes lawsuit.
October 10, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick The claims made by a New York man in his lawsuit against the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum have no merit, according to the plaintiff's brother. Daniel Bankhead, whose brother, William, sued him and the museum in...

Kansas City man charged with second-degree murder in shooting over dice game bet.
October 10, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff A Kansas City man was charged last week with second-degree murder in connection with an Oct. 1 shooting death. Damarco J. Harris, 20, allegedly shot Clyde H. Holden Jr., 33, multiple times in the 500 block of...

Commentary: Do not be afraid to care, risk, dream and expect for excellence.
October 10, 2006... Byline: Jim Wirken "Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible." -- Anonymous....

The fur flies: St. Louis-area pet company sues over FURminator.
October 11, 2006... Byline: Allison Retka A Missouri pet toy distributor is suing the maker of popular fur-removal tool for shedding the distributor after it helped get the tool on QVC and into PetSmart and PETCO stores. Chesterfield-based Creative Marketing...

Jackson County judge rules Kansas City police officer may return to police force.
October 11, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick Evidence of excessive force by a Kansas City police officer was meager at best, and his firing was unreasonable, a Jackson County judge ruled. Officer Timothy Coffer was reinstated last week, when Judge Thomas C....

KC woman's lawsuit alleges her father's death due to doctor's negligence.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City woman claims an untreated pressure sore caused her father's death five years ago. Though Herman G. Bell died when he was given too much Versed before a treatment, Sheila Battles alleged her father...

State Supreme Court to hear case over search reasoning.
October 13, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright The Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today on whether a St. Louis County trial court correctly admitted into evidence the 66.5-pound fruits of a vehicle search triggered by a suspicious hairstyling...

Drivers' rights include refusing officer request.
October 13, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter Cooperation. Mothers teach it to their children, but it can lead to problems for drivers who are pulled over by the police. So says Kansas City attorney Jeffrey Eastman, of Keleher & Eastman, whose main message is...

Missouri Legal Briefs: October 13, 2006.
October 13, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Additional murder charges filed in botched burglary A second man has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder stemming from a botched home invasion in March. Charles V. Williams, 18, of Kansas...

Missouri Lawyer in the News: October 13, 2006.
October 13, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Seven associates joined Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin in the firm's Kansas City office. Sudee Mirsafian Wright joined the litigation department. She received her juris doctorate from Chicago Kent College of...

Witness says lethal injection would not likely cause pain.
October 14, 2006... Byline: Cynthia Di Pasquale It would be nearly impossible for an inmate undergoing a lethal injection procedure in Maryland to receive less than an appropriate dosage of anesthesia and feel pain as he died, a state medical witness...

Execution nurse assistant testifies in penalty case.
October 14, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber A certified nursing assistant who inserts intravenous needles for Maryland executions testified this week that she examined the veins of death row inmate Vernon L. Evans Jr. three times, each time finding many suitable...

U.S. court approves town solicitation curfew.
October 14, 2006... Byline: Noah Schaffer A town could require door-to-door solicitors to register in advance and cease their activities by 7 p.m., a U.S. District Court judge has found. Arguing that its First Amendment rights were being violated, the...

State scalping law evolves as tickets remain available.
October 15, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter State law prohibits ticket scalping. But if you want tickets to a sold-out Chiefs game or playoff games in St. Louis, you can find them. The law says that you can't resell a ticket for a higher value. And the scam that...

How to ... benefit the most from leasing office equipment.
October 15, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee As in the consumer automobile industry, leasing has become a popular method for businesses to acquire office equipment. In fact, according to the Equipment Leasing Association, 80 percent of companies lease some...

Chiropractor's video deposition sways jury.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A woman injured in an auto accident on her way to work three years ago was awarded $8,500 by a Jackson County jury last week. Manda Lord sustained minor injuries on Sept. 12, 2003, when her car was struck from...

One-day trial ends with verdict for defendant.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A Jackson County jury needed little time to come back with a defense verdict on Tuesday. In a one-day trial, defendant Nancy Chandler-McDowell was found not responsible for the alleged injuries Nathasha Gleason...

Grocery store trip and fall settles for $20,000.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City grocery store has agreed to pay for injuries a woman suffered in a Valentine's Day trip and fall. Minutes before jury selection was scheduled to begin Tuesday, Sonia Pineda accepted a $20,000 offer...

MoBar committee: Animal law has no bite.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright The Missouri Bar's Animal Law Committee doesn't want to change the definitions of animal care and control; it just wants to make the definitions consistent with their appearance in the state's animal neglect statute....

Baltimore jury finds hospital death tied to nurse's error, not tumor.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Barbara Grzincic She was supposed to have knee surgery in the morning and walk out of the hospital that afternoon. But Amanda Smith never regained consciousness. Smith, 59, soon died from her brain crushing against her skull after...

Ride from employer allowed as comp case.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Janice Francis-Smith An employer who offered his employees rides to work on an icy day wasn't just being nice -- he was also benefiting the company, the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals ruled last week. Therefore, an employee is...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: October 16, 2006.
October 16, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff County jury finds man guilty of raping, sodomizing tenant A Jackson County jury last week found Tommy N. Bien guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at her home more than two years ago. Bien was convicted...

Commentary: Hallelujah! My client understands.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Craig Napier I've been a little cranky in my past two columns. Money's tight, bills are due, and people owe me. Last week, however, I got through an experience that gave me some hope that sometimes people do listen and make good...

Commentary: You can't reap rewards without working through challenges.
October 17, 2006... Byline: Jim Wirken If you have ever sat down and watched an NFL game, I am sure you have heard the phrase, usually after some huge hit, "Welcome to the NFL." Throughout the years I have used a similar phrase with regard to the day-to-day...

Missouri Supreme Court rules against voter ID law.
October 17, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Missouri's controversial voter ID law was struck down as unconstitutional Monday in a 6-1 decision by the Missouri Supreme Court. The decision in Weinschenk v. Missouri, coming less than two weeks after the court heard...

Unknown e-mail attachments enough to disqualify attorney.
October 17, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry A recent North Carolina decision sounds a strong warning for attorneys who conduct legal matters by e-mail -- always, always open the attachments. A lawyer who failed to do that -- and didn't realize an e-mail's...

Armstrong Teasdale adds West Coast law offices.
October 17, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff The attorneys of Senn Meulemans, a San Francisco-based law firm with offices in Las Vegas and Reno, Nev., joined Armstrong Teasdale. Kevin Senn, Catherine S. Meulemans and Richard G. Campbell joined St....

Jackson County prosecutors charge man with shooting girlfriend.
October 17, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Jackson County prosecutors on Monday charged Andrew W. McDermott with second-degree murder for the shooting death of his girlfriend. According to court records, McDermott, 20, allegedly shot Beatrice L. Fells...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: October 18, 2006.
October 18, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Appeals court to require electronic writ pleadings The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District has adopted a new rule that will require pleadings in writ proceedings to be submitted both in hard copy...

K.C.-based Shook, Hardy & Bacon receives 2006 Law Firm Diversity Award.
October 18, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick Shook, Hardy & Bacon received its second award of the year last week, when it was honored by the Defense Research Institute with the 2006 Law Firm Diversity Award at the organization's annual meeting in San...

Greenies class action transferred to K.C. to accommodate parties.
October 18, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A class action lawsuit claiming that a popular dog treat injured and caused the death of several family pets was moved to Kansas City. The suit, filed in February against S&M NuTec, of North Kansas City, was moved...

Importance of the question mark.
October 18, 2006... Byline: Molly F. Dilbeck From now on, every time something comes out of your mouth that's worded as a statement, I'm fining you $100. Is that clear? State Judge Brian A. Oakley referred to Romulus, Mich., attorney William J. Maze's use of...

Ruling permits liability for patient's accident.
October 18, 2006... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A motorcyclist who was struck and injured by an automobile could sue the driver's physician for failing to warn the driver not to operate a motor vehicle while taking medication to lower his blood sugar, a...

Series of late filings results in tossed malpractice claims.
October 18, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter Mary Henderson is learning a lot about the statute of limitations. First, she hired a St. Louis County law firm to handle her personal injury lawsuit against Wal-Mart. She alleged that she was injured in an Illinois...

K.C. doctor, hospitals win wrongful death case.
October 19, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City doctor was not negligent when he discharged an elderly patient more than five years ago, a Jackson County jury unanimously ruled. An attorney for plaintiff Sheila Battles demanded nearly $2 million...

Missouri malpractice claims climbed in advance of reform.
October 19, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright Missouri medical malpractice insurers saw a record-breaking year in 2005 with new claims spiking 57 percent, according to a new report issued by the state Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: October 19, 2006.
October 19, 2006... Byline: KC Daily Record Staff Case manager indicted for housing fraud A former case worker for United Services Community Action Agency was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for stealing $24,000 from a program that provides...

Second Sugar Creek case settles.
October 20, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick Less than two weeks before the scheduled trial, a sudden agreement was reached in one of more than two dozen cases against BP Corporation North America. Lon Walters, attorney for 20-year-old plaintiff Justin Detel,...

Cynthia Di Pasquale and Ann W. Parks.
October 20, 2006... What difference does a year make? Ask a bankruptcy attorney. A year after the implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, bankruptcy filings are still significantly off from what they were before the...

Commentary: Help others understand our profession.
October 20, 2006... Byline: Mike Hoeflich Many lawyers are surprised to learn there are provisions in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct that do not regulate lawyer conduct at all. Some rules are purely advisory, such as the second part of Rule 2.1,...

Planners help 'people decide what to do with their money'.
October 21, 2006... Byline: Jane Pribek When Charles J. Chuck Derenne's daughter had to introduce her father at career day in kindergarten, he was a little nervous that she'd confuse the group. After all, when you're a settlement planner, explaining what you...

Structured settlement consultants to create professional designation.
October 21, 2006... Byline: Jane Pribek When Charles J. Chuck Derenne entered the field of structured settlement planning in 1988, he was one of the first 100 people in it, and he was affiliated with one of the first three firms to work exclusively with...

Minnesota court finds law restricting appeal unconstitutional.
October 21, 2006... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer staff A statute restricting a defendant's right to appeal her sentence is unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers under the Minnesota Constitution, the state Supreme Court has ruled. The...

Maryland residents refile Exxon suits without mentioning MTBE.
October 22, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber The lawyer for a group of Jacksonville, Md., residents affected by a massive fuel leak will try again to have the case heard in state court. Stephen L. Snyder sued earlier this year in Baltimore County Circuit Court on...