Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from July 2006

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from July 2006

Alternate dispute resolution and mediation resolves disputes more effectively and efficiently.
July 3, 2006... Byline: William F. James Alternate dispute resolution (ADR) and mediation in particular, have come into their own in the last few years as an effective, efficient, and economical way in which to resolve disputes. The primary and best...

Missouri senate seeks to reduce public defender turnover.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole The Missouri Senate is looking for ways to hang onto state public defenders. Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons announced in late June the formation of an interim committee on the Missouri State Public...

Springfield, Mo. municipal court employees are on paid leave while city investigates missing money.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Two Springfield, Mo., municipal court employees are on a paid leave of absence while the city looks into missing money. City Manager Bob Cumley's office, the finance and human resource departments and the police...

Missouri Western District Court of Appeals gets a new chief judge.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Victor Howard stepped up July 1 to the position of chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. The eleven judges of the district elected Howard to the two-year term as chief...

Missouri attorney personnel changes and promotions.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partner Willie Epps has been named to the Kansas City Tomorrow Leadership Program for 2006-07. This program is a Civic Council program that is committed to developing an...

Missouri-based Doe Run Co. suffers a setback at state appeals court after separate lawsuit was filed.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Doe Run Co. suffered a setback at a state appeals court in its defense against a class-action lawsuit four days after a separate lawsuit was filed against the lead mining company in federal court. The Missouri...

Missouri Court of Appeals rules school is not to blame for death of two students killed in car wreck.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons A school is not to blame for the death of two students who were killed in a car wreck while traveling to watch a girls' high school softball game, the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District ruled. The...

Missouri Court of Appeals transfers alcohol-sale case to Missouri Supreme Court.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck A woman whose underage son died in a drunken-driving accident will get a shot at challenging the constitutionality of a state law that essentially allows bars -- but not liquor stores -- to be held responsible for...

Videotapes of child birth are used as evidence in court.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling On April 29, 2001, in a Barnes-Jewish Hospital delivery room in St. Louis, Monica Webber moaned as the crown of her baby's head appeared. The doctor and nurse offered words of encouragement to the struggling...

Two of the largest Missouri law firms cancel their merge.(Stinson Morrison Hecker)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole St. Louis' Husch & Eppenberger and Kansas City's Stinson Morrison Hecker cancelled their prospective cross-state marriage. Merger talks between two of the state's largest law firms have ceased, confirmed Joe...

Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals case summaries: July 3, 2006.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Appellate Practice Inadequate Brief - Rule 84.04 Where the brief of a pro se appellant failed to cite legal authority in the argument portion and failed to develop the argument, the...

Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals case summaries: July 3, 2006.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Criminal Law Sentencing - Refusal To Confess Even though a trial judge stated during a robbery defendant's sentencing that "it is pretty disturbing to see you still not taking...

Missouri Court of Appeals case summaries: July 3, 2006.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Banks and Banking Second Mortgage Loan Act - Statute Of Limitations - 'Moneyed Corporations' Where plaintiffs sued a mortgage company for unlawful fees and excessive rates under the...

United States Court of Appeals case summaries: July 3, 2006.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Administrative City Employee - Termination - Due Process Where a city utilities commission terminated an employee for a profanity-laden outburst and the employee claimed his procedure...

Missouri automobile accident involving postal carrier truck settles for $1.25M.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $1.25 million settlement A car crash that originally appeared to involve only minor injuries eventually resulted in a $1.25 million settlement for a woman who suffered from spinal injuries and Chronic Regional Pain...

Missouri injured coed settles designated driver case through mediation for $850K.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $850,000 settlement An injured passenger landed an $850,000 settlement after she suffered multiple fractures and a closed head injury in a car crash lawsuit involving three University of Missouri-Columbia students....

Missouri hospital blamed in wrongful death suit.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon Confidential settlement A final test proved fatal for a patient at Barnes-Jewish Hospital who had just undergone successful surgery to prevent the onset of cancer. His family reached a confidential settlement...

Missouri down syndrome patient's parents acquire $625K settlement after fatal car crash.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $625,000 settlement The parents of a man who had Down syndrome settled during trial in a case that alleged the wrongful death of their son. "This is a case that was pending in a very conservative jurisdiction,"...

Missouri attorney steps down from Springfield-based Lowther & Johnson.(Lowther & Johnson appoints Justin Harris)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole After nine years leading Springfield, Mo., firm Lowther & Johnson, Greggory Groves will step down Jan. 1 to make way for Justin Harris. Harris, who specializes in commercial and real estate law, was elected...

Kansas City's largest law firm announces its Overland Park Office is closing.(Shook, Hardy and Bacon L.L.P. to close down)
July 17, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick, Kansas City Daily Record This article originally appeared in the Kansas City Daily Record, another Dolan Media-owned publication. Kansas City's largest law firm has announced that it is closing its Overland...

A Missouri court employee is fired over missing money.(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole A Springfield, Mo., municipal court employee has been fired as the city looks into an estimated $500,000 missing from the court. The city announced the dismissal, as well as the hiring of Springfield accounting...

Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission accepts applications for a Court of Appeals judge.(Kenneth W. Shrum judge of Missouri. Court of Appeals (Western District) to resign )(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report The Appellate Judicial Commission is accepting applications for the position of judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District. The vacancy opened with the resignation of Judge Kenneth...

Missouri companies announce promotions and personnel changes.(Ramirez, Andrew R. appointed at Lathrop and Gage L.C.)(Amy K. Sung appointed at Armstrong Teasdale L.L.P.)(Gary D. Barnes appointed at Missouri Bankers Association)
July 17, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Legal Services of Eastern MO appointed D. Warren Hoff Jr. of University City and Tim Fallon of St. Louis as staff attorneys in the Immigration Law Project. *** Construction Dispute...

A bronze statue of John Q. Hammons stands in downtown Springfield, Mo.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole A bronze statue of a smiling, business-suited John Q. Hammons stands in downtown Springfield. Nearby are several of Hammons' developments and businesses -- the John Q. Hammons office tower, Hammons Field ballpark, the...

Larger law firms entering the market gain cozy relationships with Springfield's largest companies.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole There was a time in Springfield that almost every attorney at a major firm with many years of practice sat on corporate or charitable boards, according to Cliff Brown, president of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar...

St. Louis Attorney David A. Rubin finds unusual way to get people interested in estate planning.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Dick Dahl Attorney David A. Rubin of St. Louis has found an unusual way to get people interested in estate planning: talk to them about their pets. No one really likes to talk about what will happen to their possessions after...

Missouri boy receives $43.1M settlement for a vaccine that rendered him a quadriplegic.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A 7-year-old boy received $43.1 million in a settlement for a vaccine that rendered him a quadriplegic. The settlement, which will be paid through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, is thought to...

Missouri court rules damage awards against nursing homes can be based on adequate staffing.(Missouri. Court of Appeals (Western District))
July 17, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons Damage awards against nursing homes can be based on whether the home was adequately staffed, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District held. "This case demonstrates that aggravated circumstances claims can be...

Federal products liability case 2006 predictions keep with the declining pace.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright After a historic high of nearly 28,000 products liability case filings flowing into federal courts during 2004, new numbers suggest an ebbing of the tides. Federal products liability cases nationally slipped 14...

St. Louis Circuit verdict stands despite juror feeling pressure to sign.(Carolyn Franklin sued AT&T Inc.)
July 17, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright It was the case of the juror who changed her mind... and a judge who did so as well. Within minutes of discharging a jury in a personal injury case, St. Louis Circuit Judge Lisa Van Amburg declared a mistrial...

Missouri Eastern Court of Appeals case summaries: July 17, 2006.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Civil Practice Trial Setting - Lack Of Notice - Garnishment Where a default judgment and garnishment were entered against a party in a civil case and there was no record of any attempt...

Missouri Southern Court of Appeals case summaries: July 17, 2006.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Appellate Practice Brief - Inadequate - Rule 84.04 Where the brief of an appellant in a worker's compensation case failed to properly state a legal reason for his claims of error,...

Missouri Court of Appeals case summaries: July 17, 2006.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Administrative Attorneys' Fees - Denial - Medicaid Funding Claim Even though plaintiffs prevailed in a request for Medicaid funding before the Department of Mental Health, their request...

Missouri Supreme Court case summaries: July 17, 2006.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Civil Practice New Trial Order - Appeal - Juror Misconduct (1) Where a trial court entered an order granting a personal injury plaintiff's motion for a new trial without stating a...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court case summaries: July 17, 2006.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Bankruptcy Motion To Dismiss - Denial - Equitable Estoppel Where a debtor claimed the bankruptcy court erred in denying her motion to dismiss or convert her case because her original...

United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals case summaries: July 17, 2006.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Administrative Fish And Wildlife - Goose Hunting - Use Of Land Where landowners sought a declaratory judgment regarding the use of their land for goose hunting following decisions of the...

Widow of former smoker wins $750K after second trial in wrongful death case.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $750,000 verdict A wrongful death case brought by the widow of a 64-year-old former smoker ended in her favor when a second jury was asked to measure damages without guessing percentages of fault. "This is an...

A Missouri School and contractors resolve dispute over flooding resulting in $350K settlement.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $350,000 settlement A contractor and his customer still disagree on the origins of drainage water that flooded a Catholic school in Kansas City, but they settled the case for $350,000 to cover the cost of repairs....

Branneky's True Value Hardware cleared in Missouri discrimination case.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon Defense verdict A federal jury found in June that a Bridgeton hardware store had made every effort to accommodate a sight-impaired employee before ultimately having to dismiss him. Broderick Taylor was a...

Commentary: are you Colossus proof?(computer program called "Colossus")
July 24, 2006... Byline: Chris Heeb, D.C. Every company in every industry has as its primary goal to be profitable. The alternative would be to realize failure and ultimately dissolution. However, the insurance company's pursuit of profits should not...

Woman sues St. Charles nursery for failing to warn her that her shoes weren't appropriate.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Geri Dreiling When selecting shoes for an outing to a tree nursery, open-back dress heels don't usually top anyone's must-wear list, especially when the nursery's parking lot is severely sloped and covered in loose gravel. But...

Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan renews Clayton lease.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan re-upped its lease for eight years in the Pierre Laclede Building in Clayton. The firm increased its space by 25 percent, to 12,500 square feet, the firm said in a press release. Space...

Lawsuit over halfway house for federal prisoners in south St. Louis dismissed again.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole A lawsuit over a now defunct proposal to open a halfway house for federal prisoners in south St. Louis was dismissed July 11 for the fourth time. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District ruled on the case...

Shaw made chief judge of MO Court of Appeals, Eastern District.(Judge Booker T. Shaw)
July 24, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Judge Booker T. Shaw has been elected chief judge of Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District by unanimous vote of the judges of court. His term began on July 1. The chief judge is the chief...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: July 24, 2006.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff At its annual meeting last month, The Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys elected its new officers: Thomas L. Stewart of Zevan Davidson Farris Stewart, president; Grant L. Davis of Davis, Bethune &...

Employees increasingly file suits alleging violations of Fair Labor Standards Act and state laws.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson In February, Overland Park, Kan.-based Bank of Blue Valley settled a lawsuit filed by former loan officers claiming they weren't paid for overtime hours. The amount of the settlement was $1.1 million. The...

MO appellate court rules railroad failed to provide safe work place.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling When does walking go from a healthy habit to a health hazard? That was the question a trial judge posed while taking away a $100,000 jury verdict awarded to a railroad electrician. The electrician, Dan...

Judge Howard Lowenstein to mark a quarter century on Missouri Court of Appeals, W. District.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck After a quarter century on the bench, Judge Howard "Hal" Lowenstein has some advice for lawyers who appear in his court. Know the facts of the case off the top of your head, he says. And never hang your clothes on a...

Bryan Cave's renovation of downtown St. Louis headquarters is underway.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Bryan Cave's renovation of its downtown St. Louis headquarters is underway again after halting in spring because of larger than expected cost estimates. Work started in January, but "stalled a little bit" after...

St. Louis attorney Robert Hetlage dies after a battle with cancer.(Obituary)
July 24, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter St. Louis attorney Robert O. Hetlage died Monday, July 17, at his home after a battle with cancer. He was 75. "The legal community was lucky to have Bob Hetlage," said Robert J. Tomaso, managing partner of...

Missouri plaintiff attorneys pick tort cases from first half of year.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Significant tort law can show up in the darndest of places. A child's death can establish the exact business relationship between landlords and tenants. A fiery crash can produce case law on how juries receive their...

Personal injury lawyers still in the dark about Colossus.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh Even though insurance companies have been driving down settlement values for minor auto cases for years with the help of Colossus, most plaintiffs' personal injury lawyers are still largely clueless about how the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District case summaries: July 24, 2006.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Judgments - Finality - Pending Claims Where a trial court's judgment added a party as a plaintiff and directed him to file a petition within 30 days, the party's claims...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District case summaries: July 24, 2006.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Statutory Sodomy - Evidence Where a defendant was convicted of child molestation and statutory sodomy, the trial court did not err in submitting the verdict-directing instruction...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: July 24, 2006.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Powerball Ticket - Deadline - Refusal To Pay Where the state lottery commission refused to pay a $100,000 prize to a man who bought a winning Powerball ticket because he failed...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: July 24, 2006.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Banks and Banking Financial Institution Bond - Forgery - Signature Where bank held a standard financial institution bond for indemnification against loans secured by a forged signature, the...

Verdicts & Settlements July 24, 2006: contractors win personal injury suit.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $3.06 million verdict After a week-long trial, a jury deliberated only 30 minutes before returning a $3.06 million verdict for two contractors injured in an industrial accident. "Historically...

Verdicts & Settlements July 24, 2006: jury divides fault in highway accident.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $160,000 verdict A jury held all parties responsible in a traffic accident caused when a motorist removed a tarp from Interstate 44. Darin Holtmeyer said he was attempting to prevent an accident in October 2004...

Verdicts & Settlements July 24, 2006: Coiltech Corp., Braner USA cleared in wrongful death case.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $500,000 verdict; $10,000 when adjusted for allocation of fault A jury awarded a $500,000 verdict in a wrongful death/product liability case, but found the defendant equipment manufacturers were not to blame. A...

Verdicts & Settlements July 24, 2006: EDCO USA employee nets settlement for on-the-job injury.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $200,000 settlement Plaintiff's attorneys made an official record of a physician's examination in a workers' compensation case that led to a lump sum settlement of $200,000. "The unique thing we did in this...

Commentary: Lawyers for lawyers.(Column)
July 31, 2006... Byline: J. Nick Badgerow While trying to focus on the practice of law and running a law office, who is focusing on your obligations of professional responsibility and compliance with the rules of ethics? Because too often the answer to...

St. Louis attorney and client survive recent windstorm.(Joyce Kramer)
July 31, 2006... Byline: John DeMoor What started as a typical day on July 19 turned out to be a near life and death experience for one St. Louis attorney and her prospective client. Personal injury attorney Joyce Kramer had just sat down with a...

Kansas City lawyer to speak at end-of-life summit.(Bill Colby)
July 31, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Bill Colby, the Kansas City lawyer who represented the family of Nancy Cruzan in her right-to-die case, will be the keynote speaker at an annual summit on end-of-life issues to be held in Jefferson City in August. ...

Springfield court missing up to $1.2M.(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole The city of Springfield now says the amount of money missing from municipal court is as much as $1.2 million. The updated figure was released July 26 with a report on the city'-s investigation into the missing...

Missouri Lawyers in The News.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Amanda Schneider has joined Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM) as the first person in the William G. Guerri Chair, a three-year post created as part of LSEM's Children's Legal Alliance. As a...

Do-it-yourself divorcers get online aid.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher and Scott Lauck In an age where you can go to Lowe's to learn to build a retaining wall, or start your own media company via a blog, is it any wonder that divorces are becoming do-it-yourself projects? ...

The Accidental Jurist.(Karl Dickhaus )
July 31, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Last April, Karl Dickhaus found himself sitting at the counsel table of the U.S. Supreme Court, watching Justice Antonin Scalia tear apart the government's argument. Assistant Solicitor General Michael Dreeben was...

Attorney's are making the pitch.(advertising)
July 31, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole As St. Louis Cardinals fans cram into a season-long sold-out Busch Stadium, broadcasters of the team's games are doing a brisk trade in law firm advertising. Thompson Coburn launched a 25-spot campaign July 17 that...

Fatal milk tanker collision case in Howell County settles for $3.6M.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale After two rounds of mediation, the family of a couple killed in a collision with a milk tank trailer has settled their Howell County wrongful death case for $3,575,000 -- which their attorney believes to be the...

'Bad law' influenced trucking case settlement.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bad law played a major factor in the outcome of the Dairy Farmer of America case, according to defense attorneys. And they would like to see it changed. Dairy Farmers of America attorney Jonathan...

MO Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: July 31, 2006.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Rule 84.04 - Inadequate Brief Where the brief of a pro se appellant in a civil case did not contain a table of cases, statutes or other authorities and the points relied on...

MO Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: July 31, 2006.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Recorder's Fees - Indispensable Party - County Commission Where a trial court ordered that funds paid to a defendant by plaintiffs in a civil case for copies of records be held...

MO Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: July 31, 2006.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Dismissal - Judgments - Finality Where a trial court dismissed a petition in a civil case without indicating whether the dismissal was with or without prejudice, under Rule...

U.S. Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: July 31, 2006.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Foreclosure Sale - Property Transfer - Motion To Set Aside Where a debtor moved to set aside a property transfer from a foreclosure sale, the grant of the debtor's request must be...

Verdicts & Settlements July 31, 2006: Fed jury awards spouse of man killed in truck accident.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $1.5 million verdict; $900,000 after allocation of fault A federal jury awarded $900,000 to the spouse of a truck driver killed near Jefferson City, Mo., after witnesses testified about the difficulty of seeing the...

Judge decides for Bethalto Glass in collective bargaining battle.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon Defense verdict A federal judge granted a motion for summary judgment June 20 in a labor contract dispute. Architectural glass workers with Glaziers Local 513 claimed that construction contractor Bethalto Glass...

Verdicts & Settlements July 31: Jury awards plaintiff in collision case forcing career change.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $170,000 verdict A 20-year seed industry employee forced to change his line of work after a traffic accident netted a $170,000 verdict from a St. Louis County jury. Curtis Cooper was stopped at a traffic light...

St. Louis County judge clears neurologist in wrongful death, malpractice case.(Dr. Barbara Green)
July 31, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon Defense verdict A neurologist accused in the wrongful death of a narcolepsy patient was handed a directed verdict and cleared by a St. Louis County judge. The family of the deceased, Harry Wilson Sr., will not...

Settlements July 31, 2006: Injured couple settles with pizza maker for $250K.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $250,000 settlement A couple injured in a head-on crash with a pizza delivery driver settled their case for $250,000 in a confidential arrangement with the driver's employer. The couple, whose names were...