Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from January 2009

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from January 2009

Twenty firsts handed down by Missouri courts will make lasting impact.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco In the last half of 2008, Missouri appellate courts limited the use of the Schoemehl case in the workers' compensation area, joined the growing number of states allowing the res ipsa loquitur doctrine in...

The thing doesn't speak for itself: experts now have a say in the merits of a res ipsa claim.(Missouri)
January 5, 2009... Byline: Allison Retka When the Missouri Supreme Court approved the use of expert testimony in res ipsa loquitur claims in August, defense attorneys and medical groups across the state feared the court had opened a Pandora's box of new...

Pre-emption derailed in FRSA case by 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.(Federal Railroad Safety Act)
January 5, 2009... Byline: David Knopf Railroad attorney Timothy Thornton doesn't interpret the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on federal pre-emption powers in Lundeen v. Canadian Pacific Railroad Co. as "case closed." "If we're done, no one...

Commentary: offering advice to officers in today's business environment.(Missouri)
January 12, 2009... Byline: James M. Humphrey IV If you are an NFL football fan living in Missouri, you no doubt found that Monday morning quarterbacking was in abundant supply during the 2008 season. The two teams that call Missouri home, the Chiefs and...

Taking a sneak peek at big firm revenue in Missouri.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole Some of the leaders of Missouri's biggest firms were working the first weekend of 2009 to close the books on 2008. When they finished, several had cause to breathe a sigh of relief. In a year marked by large-scale...

Missouri Court of Appeals rules no expert testimony needed for simple injury.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco A worker can prove the nature and extent of a disability without expert testimony if the injury is a simple one, the Missouri Court of Appeals has held. The Eastern District, in Bock v. City of Columbia,...

Commentary: what? The hellhole? I don't think so.(judicial process)(Missouri)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Will Connaghan The holidays are over, and it's time to get back to work. December is always busy, so it was easy to overlook the latest Judicial Hellhole report from the American Tort Reform Foundation that came out last month. ...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District rules class action waiver clause enforceable.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District blasted a payday lender for binding its customers to an unconscionable arbitration clause. The court upheld a St. Louis County Circuit Court decision from January...

Shareholder would drop lawsuit against St. Louis based company for cut of restitution.(Missouri)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole Plaintiff Daniel Nickell is willing to drop his federal lawsuit against former Engineered Support Systems executives over stock options backdating. There's just one catch: His attorneys want a 25 percent cut of...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: January 12, 2009.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Mootness - Sex Offender Registration Act - Earlier Convictions Even though a sex offender's conviction in Iowa predated the enactment of Missouri's Sex Offender Registration...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: January 12, 2009.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Maintenance - Reasonable Need - Evidence Where a wife in a dissolution did not provide evidence of her monthly expenses or of the cost of acquiring health insurance or...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: January 12, 2009.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Arbitration Award - Appeals Statute Where car buyers appealed a trial court's interlocutory judgment compelling arbitration of their claims against a car dealer, a judgment...

United States Court of Appeals 8th Circuit Case Summaries: January 12, 2009.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Illegal Imports - Condemnation And Destruction - Egg Product Where the defendant could not obtain a certificate from Peru to allow illegally imported powdered egg whites from...

St. Louis attorney is the guy to ask about Scotch whiskey.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Betsy Lee When St. Louis attorney William Meyers was nearing his college graduation, a friend gave him a bottle of Chivas Regal and said, "All lawyers drink scotch, so you'd better get started." That bottle, which Meyers said...

Under the dome: Second Injury Fund in Missouri looks for help.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Jo Mannies Missouri's Second Injury Fund, a program to compensate previously injured people who incur new injuries on the job, didn't get much attention during last year's contentious election season. But that's likely to...

Under the dome: push to shift judges expected to return in Missouri.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Kelly Wiese St. Louis City Circuit Judge Edward Sweeney watches over legislative matters for the court, and he expects to stay busy again in 2009 defending the number of judges his court is allotted. Late in last year's...

Under the dome: anti-plan bills in Missouri proposed, not likely to pass.(judicial selection)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck For the third year in a row, Missouri lawmakers will be presented with a proposal to reform the state's method for appointing judges. In most respects, the measure on the table a proposed state constitutional...

Under the dome: caps more likely than money for public defenders in Missouri.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum Without additional funding to hire more personnel, leadership within the state's public defender system is pushing for legislation capping the number of cases that can be accepted. Providing money for public...

Under the dome: where Missouri law meets politics.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Kelly Wiese A big-time client comes to you needing help. You research the issue, study the pros and cons, and determine the simplest way to fix the problem is not to file litigation but to get the problematic law changed. What...

Verdicts & Settlements January 12, 2009: Patient settles with cardiologist, hospital for $9.25M.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A patient who needed heart and kidney transplants after suffering severe complications from a cardiac catheterization procedure has reached a $9.25 million settlement of her Jackson County medical negligence case...

Verdicts & Settlements January 12, 2009: Chrysler, dealership cleared of product liability claims.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A St. Louis jury rejected a driver's claim that defective upper ball joints on his Dodge pickup truck were to blame for a collision that killed three passengers in another vehicle. After a $50 million initial...

Verdicts & Settlements January 12, 2009: Class action suit settles for $2.2M.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A Jackson County class action suit against a health information technology company accused of improperly charging fees and taxes has settled for more than $2.2 million. The settlement included $861,639 in taxes...

Verdicts & Settlements January 12, 2009: School district recovers $250K for property damage.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A Springfield school district reached a $250,000 settlement of its Greene County case against a high school student accused of negligently causing property damage to the school during after-hours horseplay. The...

Verdicts & Settlements January 12, 2009: Injured worker reaches $2.5M settlement.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Cathy Kingsley Charles Kinney was awarded a $2.5 million settlement after an industrial freezer struck him in the head while at work. Kinney was working for Brown-Kortkamp Moving and Storage, of St. Louis. He was in the process...

Verdicts & Settlements January 12, 2009: Head-on collision case settles for $250,000.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A motorist injured in a head-on collision has reached a $250,000 settlement of her Jackson County case against the other driver. Beverly Doyle, 56, was on her way home from a work-related conference Oct. 25,...

St. Louis County Circuit Court rules doctors not responsible for post-surgery death.(Missouri)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Kyle Lewis Doctors prevailed in a St. Louis County medical malpractice case over a patient who died from complications after surgery. John B. Holzer, 79, father of the plaintiff, Janet Lunn, was hospitalized for surgery for a...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: January 19, 2009.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Inadequate Brief - Statement Of Facts Where the brief of an appellant in a civil case included a statement of facts that focused on the procedural history of the litigation,...

Too many yeses for some Missouri law firms.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole In 2008, Thompson Coburn's St. Louis office had a goal of recruiting 15 second-year summer associates. Instead, the firm ended up with 23 because of a "huge" acceptance rate, said Ruthanne Hammett, chairwoman of...

Missouri Lawyers In the News: January 19, 2009.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney General Chris Koster appointed Jefferson City attorney Patricia Churchill to lead the governmental affairs division of his office. Churchill has been with the firm of Gibbs, Pool & Turner...

Restorative justice provides volunteer opportunities.
January 19, 2009... Byline: James W. Reeves To the Editor: Many thanks to Missouri Lawyers Weekly for the Dec. 22 article, "Face-to-Face Justice" regarding restorative justice programs in Missouri. I serve as a volunteer facilitator in victim-offender...

ABA president reminds lawyers of national service day.
January 19, 2009... Byline: H. Thomas Wells Jr. To the Editor: America's lawyers welcome President-elect Barack Obama's call for a national day of service on Jan. 19: the Martin Luther King Jr. Day national holiday and the day before the inauguration. ...

Lobbying for a little change: Missouri firms prepare for increased business during Obama's term.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole Missouri-based residential elevator and wheelchair lift company ThyssenKrupp Access has been trying to get Medicare coverage for stair lifts. The lifts can allow elderly people to stay in their homes longer, but...

Missouri Supreme Court delivers blow to arbitration agreements.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Allison Retka In a pair of decisions that caught the attention of lawyers across the state, the Missouri Supreme Court for the first time weighed in on the enforceability of arbitration agreements in nursing home contracts. The...

Lawsuits, legislation, financial pressure may help reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections.
January 19, 2009... Byline: David Knopf and Sylvia Hsieh Mary Coffey isn't convinced that new legislation or even lawsuits can reverse what some have called an epidemic of hospital-acquired infections. But Coffey, an attorney who represented a St. Louis...

Cole County Circuit Judge Callahan finds practice illegal but says inmate raised issue too late.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Kelly Wiese For many people, getting a summons to serve on a jury is far from a welcome piece of mail. Potential jurors regularly plead their case with judges about why serving won't work. But until recently, potential jurors...

Mo. Court of Appeals rules guaranty corporation must help workers of bankrupt companies.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Allison Retka A Missouri appeals court has spelled out the responsibilities of the Workers' Compensation Division in helping injured workers gain benefits from bankrupt companies. The court also chastised a state guaranty...

Missouri Court of Appeals rules division miscalculated increases to blind pension fund.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco Blind Missourians won a partial victory in the Court of Appeals this week when the court held that state agencies miscalculated increases to the state's blind pension fund for more than a decade. The case...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: January 19, 2009.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Child Protection Order - Payment Of Fees - Exemptions Where a petitioner sought a full order of protection for her children against their father, the petitioner was exempt from...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: January 19, 2009.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional Blind Pension Fund - Use Of Fund - Increase Calculation (1)Where the Missouri Council of the Blind and blind plaintiffs sued for an accounting of the state's blind pension fund,...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: January 19, 2009.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Personal Care Assistance - Denial Of Benefits - Discrimination Where a mentally and physically disabled woman whose mother received benefits for her care under the Personal Care...

United States Court of Appeals 8th Circuit Case Summaries: January 19, 2009.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Jurisdiction - Ancillary Enforcement - Arkansas Law Where insurers sought to enjoin a civil action pending between the insurers and health care providers, the district court...

Under the Dome: Prospects dim for raising judges' salaries in Missouri.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum Prospects are hazy for a proposed pay increase approved by an appointed board late last year. The Missouri Citizens' Commission on Compensation met in late November in Jefferson City and approved a proposal...

Under the Dome: Campaign finance issues in Missouri on hold.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jo Mannies Missouri's campaign finance system, which imposes no limits on the size of contributions, isn't likely to face much of a threat from pro-limit supporters during this year's new legislative session. After a faulty...

Verdicts & Settlements January 19, 2009: Plaintiff suffered spinal injuries, settles.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley A motorist settled her personal injury lawsuit against a 93-year old driver in St. Louis County Circuit Court for $110,000. Plaintiff Mary Cazzell's spine was injured when her car was hit by Barbara Elbrecht. ...

Verdicts & Settlements January 19, 2009: Ford wins products liability defense verdict.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley Ford Motor Co. won a defense verdict in a St. Louis County products liability case arising from a crash that left the driver paralyzed. Jeanne Moore, 57, alleged that her front seat of her 2002 Ford Explorer was...

Verdicts & Settlements January 19, 2009: Drunken-driving accident case settles for $725K.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale An underage bar patron injured in a drunken-driving accident has reached a $725,000 settlement of his Clay County case against the bar and bar owner, who was allegedly behind the wheel in the single-car accident. ...

Verdicts & Settlements January 19, 2009: Employee recovers $1.02M for collision injuries.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale An employee injured in a rear-end collision has reached a $1.02 million settlement with the other motorist and the employer's underinsured motorist carrier. The confidential parties settled before litigation was...

Verdicts & Settlements January 19, 2009: Jury finds zero fault for car-pedestrian collision.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A Johnson County jury refused to assess fault to a motorist who struck a good Samaritan trying to assist at the scene of an earlier car accident. Each party claimed the other was 100 percent at fault for the...

Verdicts & Settlements January 19, 2009: St. Louis City jury sides with defendant in case against GM.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Kelly Wiese Attorneys for General Motors Corp. secured a defense verdict from a St. Louis jury in a lawsuit following a car crash that severely injured a 15-month-old child. Plaintiffs' attorneys had sought $1 million from GM...

Verdicts & Settlements January 19, 2009: Kansas jury clears doctors of medical malpractice.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Cathy Kingsley A jury found that doctors were not at fault in treating a patient with blood clots who ultimately lost part of her leg. On Sept. 5, 2003, Dr. Martin Rhodes admitted Norma Anderson, 55, to a hospital in Kansas...

Verdicts & Settlements January 19, 2009: Jury awards $2.3M to ex-Easy Returns owners.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole The former owners of a St. Charles pharmaceutical returns business sold after a federal Drug Enforcement Administration investigation won a $2.3 million jury verdict against the buyer. A St. Charles County jury on...

New FDIC changes protect IOLTA accounts.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Ed Poll When it comes to the managing and accounting of client funds held in trust, lawyers are responsible to account for every penny. In an accounting sense, these funds are a liability of the law practice to the client, must...

Tips for witness preparation.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher/Dolan Media Newswires Lawyers have gotten lazy when it comes to witness preparation, contends Stephen D. Susman, a leading trial lawyer and partner at Susman Godrey in Houston. "Most people can be taught to...

Confronting juror bias against female lawyers.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher/Dolan Media Newswires Sometimes, the toughest critic a woman trial lawyer faces is another woman - especially one sitting in the jury box. But a little understanding and sisterly solidarity can win over the most...

U.S. District Court: looking for more green in Greenwood case.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole Attorneys' fees have topped $2.2 million in litigation over access to a quarry near Greenwood, and they're going up as the city and users of the quarry duel over who should pay them. Hunt Martin Materials and...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: January 26, 2009.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff John Rourke and Tom Niemann opened law firm Niemann Rourke in west St. Louis County. Rourke and Niemann have business and commercial, fidelity and surety, construction and real estate and civil...

Missouri AG hiring 40 lawyers.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum At a time when some of the state's largest law firms are laying off, at least one legal institution is actively seeking resumes. Attorney General Chris Koster needs roughly 40 lawyers to fill key positions...

8th U.S. Circuit overturns malpractice judgment against Minnesota law firm.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco A Minnesota law firm emerged from years of litigation over legal malpractice claims and the threat of a $4 million judgment with an opinion by a divided three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: January 26, 2009.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Associate Circuit Court - Unlawful Detainer Where a pro se appellant filed an appeal from a judgment in an unlawful detainer action that was filed directly in the associate...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: January 26, 2009.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Banks and Banking Negligence - Forged Checks - Comparative Fault Where the victim of a previous forgery failed to safeguard his checkbook or lockbox against a mother and son who had previously...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: January 26, 2009.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Municipal Charge - Harassment - Sufficiency Of Evidence Where a defendant made threatening text and telephone messages to a woman and threatened to "put a shammy on everybody" but...

U.S. Court Of Appeals 8th Circuit Case Summaries: January 26, 2009.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Standing - Corporate Plaintiff - Capacity To Sue Where independent contractors brought tort and contract claims against a logging company, the district court properly dismissed...

Practice practice: tough economy: where do you cut? When do you hire or outsource?
January 26, 2009... Byline: David Knopf There's no shortage of grim economic news in early 2009, much of it impacting the way law firms do business. The list of firms trimming employees grows daily. Just a sample on Jan. 15 the American Bar Association...

Practice practice: putting together a diverse staff: tips on creating a successful diversity program.(Missouri)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Julia M. Johnson Practicing diversity in the legal workplace isn't just an ethical choice. It also makes sense in an evolving social and business climate, members of prominent Missouri firms say. "On a big-picture level, law...

Practice practice: the right choice: how do you find the right person for your firm?(Missouri)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Betsy Lee When the American Bar Association Journal asked attorneys to predict the future, 10 percent of the 14,307 lawyers who responded said the economic downturn meant it was time to update their resumes. The survey results,...

Practice practice: temp help, permanent fix: more firms relying on contract attorneys to reduce cost.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger Contract attorneys by definition provide a temporary fix. In a changing legal marketplace, they could end up becoming a permanent fixture. As law firms and corporate legal departments look for ways to cut costs...

Practice practice: cutting overhead can be a painful procedure.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Ed Poll The cost represented by people is the largest expense at all law firms, including those with hundreds or even thousands of lawyers and staff, small firms or even solo practices. There is no question that lawyers and law...

Practice practice: temp help, permanent fix.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger Contract attorneys by definition provide a temporary fix. In a changing legal marketplace, they could end up becoming a permanent fixture. As law firms and corporate legal departments look for ways to cut costs...

Missouri Top Verdicts and Settlements 2008: Topsy-turvy top verdicts of '08.
January 26, 2009... Byline: Allison Retka Juries in St. Louis County and St. Louis City used 2008 to kill any lingering stereotypes about their ideological leanings. Long considered a venue that's home to more conservative juries, a St. Louis County jury...

Greene County Circuit Court rules motorcyclist recovers $720K after collision.(Missouri)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A panel of three arbitrators in Greene County awarded $1.2 million to a motorcyclist injured in a collision. But the panel allocated 40 percent fault to the motorcyclist, for a net award of $720,000. Tammy...

Jackson County Circuit Court awards $371K in breach of contract suit.(Missouri)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley An Independence jury returned a $371,000 verdict for a developer and a real estate company in a breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation lawsuit. In February 2004, Eugene and Charlene Ruiz purchased a...

Buchanan County Circuit Court favors landlord in commercial lease dispute.(Missouri)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A Buchanan County jury awarded $97,000 in damages to a landlord accusing a tenant of breaching a commercial real estate lease. Colonial 353 Redevelopment Corp. redeveloped a bakery building at 2300 Frederick St....

The Invisible Constitution.(Book review)
January 26, 2009... Byline: James M. Kramon/Dolan Media Newswires Laurence Tribe, Loeb University professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard, is one of a small group of constitutional scholars who have mastered every nook and cranny of the American...