Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from April 2003

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from April 2003

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: April 7, 2003.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Construction - Mechanic's Lien - Board Registration (1) Where an architectural firm and an engineering firm sought mechanic's liens on real estate for work and materials without...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: April 7, 2003.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Agriculture Corporate 'Farming' - Swine Production - Cattle Grazing Where a corporation that was involved in swine production under an exception to a statutory restriction against corporate...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 7, 2003.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Sexually Violent Predator - Instruction - 'Mental Abnormality' Where a defendant was held to be a sexually violent predator during a proceeding in which the instruction did not...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: April 7, 2003.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Default Judgment - Interest Rate - Findings Where the trustee's final report in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case supported the debtor's claim that he paid a finance company in full and...

St. Louis University School of Law To Present Darrow Award On April 9.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff St. Louis University School of Law will present attorney Karen Kraft with the 2003 Darrow Award on April 9. This award recognizes individuals who help to better society through their work in the field...

St. Louis Lawyer Builds Beer Business.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff On April 8, attorney Tom Schlafly will celebrate the grand opening of the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, Mo. There will also be a dedication ceremony on April 7 to coincide with the 70th anniversary...

Missouri Lawyers In The News: April 7, 2003.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis announced that Joan Lockwood of Gray, Ritter & Graham will be the 2003 recipient of the John C. Shepherd Professionalism Aw-ard. The award is given annually...

Neighbors Lose Suit Vs. Clay Mine Over Sediment In Lake.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Neighborhood associations are becoming increasingly likely to use litigation to protect the interests of their members in environmental, development and zoning matters, attorneys tell Lawyers Weekly. In a recent...

Verdicts and Settlements April 7, 2003: Wrongful dishonor leads to $1.2M judgement.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff A surety company for a construction project sued the bank that refused to honor a letter of credit used to secure performance and payment bonds. CMR Construction, Inc. was named the general...

Arkansas Car Accident Case Reaches $100K Settlement.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Waynesville attorney Kimberly F. Lowe reached a $100,000 settlement onMarch 21 with Brink Truck Lines in a lawsuit involving a collision between a truck driver and another motorist in Washington County,...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Rules Officer Had No 'Reasonable' Suspicion To Stop Driver.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Where a police officer observed a truck pull into a shopping center after midnight, park for several minutes with the lights turned off and then hurriedly drive away, the officer could not follow and stop the driver,...

Missouri Supreme Court Rules 'Missing-Child' Flyer Not Grounds For Defamation.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Where a missing-child flyer posted on a Wal-Mart bulletin board implied that a woman had kidnapped her granddaughter, she could not sue the store for defamation, the Missouri Supreme Court has ruled. This was...

Verdicts and Settlements April 7, 2003: Wal-Mart Settles For $175K Over Misfilled Prescription.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff A Wal-Mart pharmacist was sued after she filled a prescription with the wrong drug, giving a 4-month-old child an anti-fungal agent used to treat ringworm instead of an expectorant. On Nov. 4, 1998...

County Judge In Missouri Rules Church Can Be Sued For Negligence Of Its Clergy.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Kelly Kress The armor protecting churches from liability for clergy sex abuse suffered a serious blow in March when a trial judge refused to dismiss a claim against the Diocese of Jefferson City. Marion County Judge C. David...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: April 7, 2003.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Habeas Corpus - Appeal Where an appellant sought to appeal from a judgment denying his writ of habeas corpus in the circuit court, an appeal does not lie from a decision in...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 7, 2003.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Transfer Granted The Missouri Supreme Court granted transfer on April 1 in the following cases: Criminal Law Eastern District ruling: Where a defendant who violated his probation received...

Verdicts and Settlements April 7, 2003: Missouri jury rules for defendant in auto crash suit.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff After two drivers got in a fight over a traffic incident, one man sued the other for his dislocated shoulder. Brian Shoffner and Michael Natoli were both driving in morning rush hour on Highway 40...

Verdicts and Settlements April 7, 2003: Hotel Settles For $640K For A Guest's Slip-And-Fall.
April 7, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff A hotel guest who fell when a carpet was pulled out from under her feet sued the hotel and its remodeling contractors for negligence. Davidson Asset Services Co., owner of the Hilton Kansas City...

Missouri Court of Appeals rules reckless drunk driver's truck not a dangerous instrument.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Truck Not A 'Dangerous Instrument' A drunk driver who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter by recklessly killing another motorist was not also guilty of armed criminal action, the Missouri...

Verdicts and Settlements April 14, 2003: Missouri jury awards $153K in race discrimination case.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff An assistant professor sued St. Louis Community College for race discrimination after his application for promotion to associate professor was denied. Ambrose Inyang joined St. Louis Community...

Verdicts and Settlements April 14, 2003: Med-Mal case settles for $500K for misdiagnosis.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The family of a Warren County man sued his doctors for medical malpractice, claiming that he died because they failed to diagnose the source of abdominal bleeding. In 1990 Jack Wiggins, 58,...

Wal-Mart Settles Case For $175K Over Wrong Prescription.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Kelly Kress A Wal-Mart pharmacy in Charleston, Mo., that misfilled a 4-month-old's prescription has settled a negligence lawsuit for $175,000. The settlement featured a unique aspect, according to Taylor Lang's attorneys -- an...

St. Louis Obituaries.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Morris J. Levin, a St. Louis attorney who spent over 50 years representing members of the labor movement, died on March 6 at the age of 92. Levin, a 1930 graduate of Washington University School of...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Rules Member Of Church Can't Sue Pastors For Libel.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones A church member could not sue his pastors for libel after they sent a letter to the congregation accusing him of creating "dissension and discord," the Missouri Court of Appeals' Southern District has ruled in a...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: April 14, 2003.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Appeal - Timeliness - Dissolution Action Where a wife failed to file her appeal of a grant of summary judgment to her ex-husband in her dissolution case within 10 days of the...

Arizona Tractor Trailer Case Reaches $780K Settlement.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Springfield attorney Randy J. Reichard reached a $780,000 settlement on March 3 with Zilly Transportation Services, LLC. The lawsuit involved a collision between one of Zilly's truck drivers and the...

Small St. Louis Defense Firm Scores Med-Mal Hat Trick 3 Straight Weeks.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Winning a medical malpractice verdict, whether for the plaintiff or the defendant, is a tough task for any small law firm. That's what makes the accomplishment of a six-member St. Louis defense firm so remarkable...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: April 14, 2003.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Drug Paraphernalia - SIS - Appeal - 'Exigent Circumstances' (1) Where the trial court suspended the imposition of sentence for defendant's conviction for controlled substances,...

All about St. Louis attorney Mark Antonacci.(Triton College law school professor and one of the world's leading experts on the Shroud of Turin)(Interview)
April 14, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Born: Oct. 6, 1947 in Springfield, Ill. Residence: Byrnesville, Mo. Education: John Marshall Law School, 1977; Western Illinois University, 1971 Professional: taught criminal procedure and evidence at...

Missouri Court of Appeals rules home buyer can sue after collapse of retaining wall.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale The buyer of a new home could sue the builder for breach of the implied warranty of quality and fitness after a landscape retaining wall collapsed, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District has ruled. The...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: April 14, 2003.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Child Abuse - Evidence Where testimony from a child abuse victim's interviewer and a videotaped interview with the child supported the consistency of the child's statements, the...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: April 14, 2003.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Seizure - Attorney - Unlawful Arrest - Collateral Estoppel (1) Where an attorney who was arrested and charged with obstruction of the legal process after she handed her business...

Commentary: An Expert On Experts Tips On Getting Lawyers' Attention.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones The Expert Witness Marketing BookHow To Promote Your Forensic Practice In A Professional And Cost-Effective MannerRosalie HamiltonExpert Communications, 253 pages$49.95 The capital sin of many expert witnesses...

Verdicts and Settlements April 14, 2003: Mich. jury awards $900K for doctor's cancer misdiagnosis.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The wife of a St. Louis man sued two doctors who she claimed failed to treat her husband's cancer, leading to his death. Patrick Downey had been a patient of Dr. Robert Brinkman for six years. In...

Verdicts and Settlements April 14, 2003: Fatal Altercation At Bar Leads To $1M Verdict.
April 14, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale The mother of a man who died after an altercation with a barroom bouncer has won $1 million in her Jackson County lawsuit against the bar. Betty Wallingford claimed that her 48-year-old son blacked out after the...

Missouri Attorneys Settle An Arkansas Car Accident Case.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Springfield attorneys Andy Hodges and Grant Haden reached a $1 million settlement with Tom Fitts Tobacco Co., a tobacco delivery company. The lawsuit involved a collision between one of the company's...

Missouri Lawyers In The News: April 21, 2003.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Evans & Dixon announced the addition of two new associates in the Workers Compensation Practice, Stephen A. Brueggeman and Catherine D. Goodnight. Brueggeman received a law degree from St. Louis...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Rules Meth Seized From Driver Should Have Been Excluded.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Where a sheriff stopped a car and an oversized bolt fell from the driver's seat when the driver got out, the sheriff should not have screwed off the top of the hollowed-out bolt, which contained a bag of...

Battle Rages In Missouri Over Plan To Consolidate Legal Services.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Kelly Kress A plan to combine Missouri's four legal aid organizations into a single entity has drawn stinging criticism from some lawyers and has attracted the attention of political heavyweights. Under the proposal, a...

Verdicts and Settlements April 21, 2003: Mich. doctor must pay $680K for misdiagnosis suit.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The family of a 54-year-old woman sued her doctor, claiming that a misdiagnosis of respiratory failure led to her death. Barbara Jones of St. Louis County saw Dr. Robert Poetz on three occasions in...

Verdicts and Settlements April 21, 2003: Motorcycle accident leads to $3M settlement.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The family of a motorcyclist who died in a construction zone accident sued several defendants, including the highway contractor, for wrongful death. On June 27, 2002 John Smith, 34, was riding his...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: April 21, 2003.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Employer - Employee Wrongful Discharge - Disability - Retaliation - Temporal Proximity Where an employer produced substantial evidence that an employee was terminated for budgetary reasons, the...

Commentary: Reunited And It Feels ... Okay, I Guess.
April 21, 2003... Byline: David L. Yas I used to think 10 years was a long time. Heck, the 10 years between third grade and sophomore year in college, that was a long time, wasn't it? In third grade you're taking on your older brother in Rock 'em-Sock...

Missouri Court of Appeals Rules Divorced Parent Is Obligated To Continue Paying Child Support.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Support Continues For 'Drop-Outs' A divorced parent cannot avoid the statutory obligation to continue paying monthly support for a child over age 18 but still "attending" school just because the...

Missouri Attorney Challenges Criminal Statute.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Springfield attorney Dee Wampler is currently representing a Cox South Hospital nurse charged with two misdemeanor counts of failing to report child abuse. The charges stem from an alleged violation of...

Fatal Altercation At Missouri Bar Leads To $1M Verdict.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale The mother of a man who died after an altercation with a barroom bouncer has won $1 million in her Jackson County lawsuit against the bar. Betty Wallingford claimed that her 48-year-old son blacked out after the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: April 21, 2003.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Rule 29.07 Motion - Statement of Facts - Inadequate Where a pro se defendant's statement of facts failed to present any facts relating to the issues he presented on the denial of...

Verdicts and Settlements April 21, 2003: Mo. Jury Awards $12, 879 For Water Found In Burial Vault.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The parents of a Columbia man sued a funeral home and several other defendants after discovering water inside his funeral vault on two occasions. In 1996 Raul and Vicki Walters purchased funeral...

Verdicts and Settlements April 21, 2003: Golfer negligence results in $100K settlement.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff A man who lost vision in his right eye after being struck by a golf ball sued the golfer who hit it. Eugene Maggio was playing a round of golf at the Rockwood Country Club in Independence on Aug....

Mizzou Law Men's Softball Team Places Second In The Nation.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The University of Missouri School of Law men's softball team placed second in the nation at the 20th annual national law school softball tournament held March 28-30 at the University of Virginia,...

8th U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals Rules 'Temporal Proximity' Not Enough In ADA Case.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Even though an employee was fired only five days after she complained about company policy toward the disabled, she could not sue for retaliation, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The employee...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: April 21, 2003.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Final Judgment - Probation Time Credit - Denial Where a defendant appealed from an order denying his petition for credit for probation time towards his sentence, final...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: April 21, 2003.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Partial Summary Judgment - Finality - Construction Contract Where a trial court divided the claims of the plaintiff in a construction case into those incurred before a change...

Verdicts and Settlements April 21, 2003: Mich. jury rules for defendant in breach of contract case.
April 21, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff After series of disagreements about the construction of a custom home, the homeowner sued the builder, claiming the work performed was not in accordance with the contract. Gary and Doro-thea Iles...

Missouri Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 28, 2003.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Criminal Appeal - Continuing Objection - Failure to Make Where defendant's counsel stated "no objection" to the introduction of each piece of evidence and failed to make a...

Missouri Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 28, 2003.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Methamphetamine - 'Distribute' - Evidence - Sufficiency Where a defendant convicted of distribution of a controlled substance told officers he "gave" some to another person to use...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: April 28, 2003.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Rule 74.05 - Meritorious Defense - Failure to Plead Where the defendant in a civil case filed a motion to set aside a default judgment which generally denied responsibility for...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 28, 2003.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Declaratory Judgment - Rulemaking - Impaired Waters List Where a group of trade and business associations brought a declaratory judgment action challenging a decision by the...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: April 28, 2003.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Attorney's Fees - Reasonableness - Pro Se Debtor Where the trustee initiated little litigation in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in which the pro se debtor negotiated a settlement which...

Nonagenarian St. Louis Attorney Still Practicing Law.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff On May 1, St. Louis attorney Sam Weber will celebrate his 90th birthday. And he's still going strong. "I'm working every day, which keeps me from going upstairs to visit St. Peter," Weber said. "I...

Kids' Chance of Missouri To Host 7th Annual Kids' Chance Golf Tournament At Innsbrook Estates.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff On Friday May 2, Kids' Chance Inc. of Missouri will host the 7th Annual Kids' Chance Golf Tournament at Innsbrook Estates. Kids' Chance is a workers' compensation charity that awards post-high...

Missouri Lawyers In The News: April 28, 2003.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff On April 14 Lisa Van Amburg was sworn in as a Circuit Judge in the St. Louis City Circuit Court. She fills the vacancy left by Judge Booker T. Shaw, who was appointed to the Eastern District Court of...

Pro Bono Survey Demonstrates Extent Of Missouri Lawyers' Service.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale In observance of Law Day on May 1, The Missouri Bar is making a special effort to recognize the many attorneys who contribute pro bono services to the general public. According to Bar president Dale Doerhoff of...

Verdicts and Settlements April 28, 2003: Mo. jury awards $308K for breach of fiduciary duty.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $308,000 Verdict A shipping company sued its former general manager after she set up a competing business in the same office space. Stevie Chan was general manager for Scanwell Freight Express...

Verdicts and Settlements April 28, 2003: Mo. motorcyclist accident leads to $1.5M settlement.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff A motorcyclist sued a truck driver who caused him to run off the road and suffer severe head injuries. On Aug. 20, 2001 Dennis Wilkerson was traveling northbound on Highway 51 in Stoddard County...

Verdicts and Settlements April 28, 2003: Mo. jury awards $1.9M in fatal med-mal case.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The wife of a Cape Girardeau attorney sued his cardiologist, claiming that a misreading of stress test results led to a fatal heart attack a month later. In September 2001 David Beeson was referred...

Verdicts and Settlements April 28, 2003: Agriculture suit against USDA results in $2.25M settlement.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff More than 600 cotton farmers from Dunklin County sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture after agency workers failed to inform the farmers they had a choice of program contracts, causing them to lose...

Missouri Supreme Court Rules Policyholder 'Owned' Her Insurance Claims File.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones A woman involved in an automobile accident was entitled to full access to her insurance company's claims file on the matter, the Missouri Supreme Court has ruled in a case of first impression. State Farm, which...

Missouri Circuit Court Case Summaries: April 28, 2003.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Sunshine Request - Confidentiality - Child Fatality Where a newspaper made a Sunshine Law request for Division of Family Services and Greene County Juvenile Court records...

Every Lawyer Deals With A Cranky Judge At One Time Or Another.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Every lawyer has a cranky judge experience -- a random act of unprovoked churlishness from a black-robed member of our species. It could come early in a career, when the tenderfoot attorney is too scared to...

Missouri Supreme Court Rules Fiance Can Sue Over Death Of Unborn Child.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Anne C. Vitale The fiance of a pregnant woman killed in a robbery could sue the store where she worked for the death of the unborn child, the Missouri Supreme Court has held. The store argued that the fiance could not prove...

Former Rent-A-Car Corporate Officer Wins $4M In Wrongful Termination Case.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Kelly Kress The former controller of Enterprise Rent-A-Car was awarded $4 million in his St. Louis County wrongful termination case. Thomas Dunn claimed that he was fired because he blew the whistle on illegal business...

Kansas City Judge Lisa White Hardwick.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Born: Oct. 5, 1960 in Kansas City Education: University of Missouri-Columbia, B.A. in journalism, 1982; Harvard Law School, 1985 Professional Experience: Shook, Hardy & Bacon 1985-1999...

Missouri Supreme Court approves decision to explain rules of summary judgement.
April 28, 2003... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff New Test For Summary Judgments Motions for summary judgment should no longer be denied by trial courts just because there is "the slightest doubt" as to a material fact, the Missouri Supreme Court...