Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from December 2002

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from December 2002

Worker's family settles gas explosion case for $1.4M.(Missouri)
December 2, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones The family of a worker who died when a punctured gas main caused a residential explosion settled their St. Louis City negligence case for over $1.4 million. Laclede Gas employee Kenneth Ferguson was part of a...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District says vending co. terminated by Wal-Mart had no tort case.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones A company that placed vending machines in Wal-Mart stores could not sue for tortious interference after Wal-Mart terminated the parties' contract, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Southern District has ruled,...

Missouri Supreme Court suspends two class action attorneys.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Two lawyers in a large firm who defended Chrysler in products liability cases involving heating cores and minivan gate latches -- but left the firm and sued Chrysler in class actions involving antilock brake...

Tony Twist verdict will be reviewed by Missouri Supreme Court.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones A professional hockey player who won a $24.5 million verdict against a comic book creator will ask the Missouri Supreme Court to reinstate the award, which was taken away by the trial judge on JNOV. The case,...

Verdict for worker against subcontractors is overturned by Missouri Court of Appeals.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones A construction worker could not sue two subcontractors after he was injured in a fall at the work site, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Eastern District has ruled, reversing a $935,000 verdict. The...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: December 9, 2002.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Damages Remittitur - Fall Injuries - Evidence Where a previously healthy 89-year-old man who broke a leg in a fall at a Wal-Mart store required surgery for the leg and then was forced to be in...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: December 9, 2002.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Statement - Circumstances - Argument (1) Where a co-defendant was allowed to testify that he finally told the truth about the murder committed by defendant after he had talked to...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 9, 2002.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Directed Verdict - Instructions - Plain Error (1) Where homeowners sued the company that performed the pre-sale inspection of the home they bought and the man who actually did...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: December 9, 2002.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Prejudgment Interest - Demand - Insurance Company - Missouri Law Where the plaintiff in a wrongful death case sent a demand letter to the defendant's liability insurance company...

10 years ago in Missouri Lawyers Weekly: December 9, 2002.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Rule 17 Standards Take Effect A new rule designed to step up the pace of litigation and move dockets faster has been adopted by the Missouri Supreme Court for all trial courts in the state....

Kansas City lawyer Guy A. Magruder Jr.dies.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Kansas City lawyer Guy Magruder died Nov. 20 at the age of 80. Magruder joined the law firm of Terrell and Slaughter follwing his graduation from the University of Missouri in 1948. He became a...

Verdicts & Settlements December 9, 2002: Sales rep agreed to market bull castration device.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense Verdict $277,138 Counterclaim Pro Rep Inc. sued No-Bull Enterprises for failure to pay commissions on sales of a bull castration system. No-Bull filed a counterclaim, contending that...

Verdicts & Settlements December 9, 2002: Woman died after nursing home stay.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $432,500 Verdict The family of Veronica O'Gorman sued several defendants for nursing home malpractice following her death in 1995 at the age of 87. O'Gorman had a history of respiratory...

Verdicts & Settlements December 9, 2002: Plaintiff was broadsided at intersection.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $4 Million Settlement Sylvan Boxdorfer sued Lason Inc. after he was injured in an automobile accident with a Lason employee, Leroy Jones. Boxdorfer was northbound on Grand Blvd. in St. Louis...

Verdicts & Settlements December 9, 2002: Man killed in accident with truck.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $4.5 Million Settlement Michael Brouhard was killed in an accident with a United Van Lines tractor-trailer on Oct. 31, 2001. His wife and three children sued the trucking company and its driver for...

8th Circuit says demand on insurance co. triggered interest.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones A plaintiff could get prejudgment interest in a wrongful death case even though her attorney sent a demand letter to the defendant's insurance company instead of to the defendant, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of...

Missouri Supreme Court finds failure to give 'Miranda' was intended by officers.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Where a police officer intentionally failed to give a murder suspect a Miranda warning until after he got an admission, the suspect's confession obtained after a later warning had to be suppressed, the Missouri...

Missouri Lawyers Weekly celebrates 15th year.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones In 1987, the practice of law was a considerably different animal than it is today. Think of offices without e-mail, without computer networks, some even without faxes. And until the end of 1987, Missouri...

10 years ago in Missouri Lawyers Weekly: December 16, 2002.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Schoolyard Fight Not Covered A high school student listed on his mother's homeowners policy was not entitled for coverage for punching another student who then crashed through a glass window during...

Driver said he smoked, ate before breath test: Mo. Court of Appeals says license can't be suspended.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Paul D. Boynton Where a driver who registered a .106 blood alcohol level on a breath test said he ate a piece of candy and smoked within the 15 minutes before the test, his license could not be suspended, the Missouri Court of...

Missouri Lawyers In The News: December 23, 2002.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Lynda S. Fraza has joined Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin's Springfield office as a paralegal. Fraza is a certified business and corporate law paralegal and will assist in the firm's corporate...

Amount pleaded in suit on acct. deemed owed by Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Where the defendant in a suit on account failed to answer requests for admissions, the trial court was required to enter judgment for the full amount pleaded because that amount was deemed admitted, the Missouri...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District says mom didn't need court OK to move to South Carolina.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones A mother could relocate to South Carolina without court permission where the father did not file a motion objecting to the move within 30 days after getting notice from her, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District contractor who was pulling co. trailer can get comp.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones An independent contractor working for a fencing company could get workers' compensation after his pickup truck crashed while carrying materials from the company's office to a work site, the Missouri Court of...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: December 23, 2002.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Service Of Process - Sheriff's Return - Conclusiveness Where the trial court refused to set aside a default judgment in a personal injury case on the basis that the record showed...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: December 23, 2002.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Judgment - Finality - Less Than All Issues Where the trial court in a civil case entered judgment as to one count of a two-count pleading but failed to rule as to the claim...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: December 23, 2002.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Rule 84.04 - Brief - Inadequate Where the brief of an appellant in a civil case contained an improper jurisdictional statement, an inadequate statement of facts and...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: December 23, 2002.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Union Dispute - Evidence - Exclusion Where an arbitration board in a railroad union dispute determined not to give evidentiary weight to a polygraph test that had been presented to...

Commentary: managing the risks of technology e-mail, cell phones can be trap for unwary.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Emily Eichenhorn Cell phones, personal computers and e-mail are wonderful tools for helping lawyers increase productivity, communicate more frequently and manage their businesses. Unfortunately, technological innovation also has...