Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2006

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2006

Missouri labor practice leader is back on crutches after recovering from double-knee replacement.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Colleagues of Greensfelder Hemker & Gale labor practice leader Dennis Collins were surprised to see him back on crutches weeks after he had recovered from double-knee replacement surgery. A little...

Missouri law students chosen to present their research papers at the Stanford/Yale for scholarship.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Two Washington University School of Law faculty members have been chosen to present their research papers along with a select group of distinguished young scholars at the Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty...

Missouri casino employees lose occupational gaming license for lying about practical joke.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Honesty is the best policy. Two Isle of Capri Casino employees found that out the hard way after losing their occupational gaming licenses for lying to cover up a co-worker's prank. The trouble...

Missouri professionals receive awards and promotions.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Patrick J. Whalen, a partner in the Kansas City, Mo., office of Spencer Fane Britt & Browne L.L.P. and leader of the firm's Intellectual Property Litigation Subgroup, was recently honored by Ingram's...

Partner votes on a merger of Missouri-based and Cleveland-based law firms could be this summer.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Partner votes on the merger of Bryan Cave and Cleveland-based Squire Sanders & Dempsey could be this summer, according to two partners at the firm. The partners cited information given at a Bryan Cave partner...

Missouri court rules employees can receive disability checks from Second Injury Fund and employer.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons Employees who suffer from more than one disability at the same time can receive disability checks from the Second Injury Fund and the employer-insurer concurrently, a Missouri appellate court ruled. The Eastern...

Integrated juries deliberate more thoroughly.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Dick Dahl When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a black death-row inmate in Texas last year due to strong evidence of racial bias during jury selection, Justice Stephen G. Breyer added his own denunciation of an...

Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Venue - Motion To Transfer - Pending Claims Where a trial court transferred a case to an appropriate venue and the plaintiffs appealed the transfer order, the entire case...

Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Escape Rule - Hearing - Failure To Appear Where a criminal defendant failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing, for the rescheduled hearing and for his sentencing hearing, his...

Missouri Western District Court of Appeals case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Gaming Licenses - Revocation - Notice Where the gaming licenses of two casino employees were revoked after they lied about the intentional disabling of a security camera by...

Missouri Supreme Court case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Exclusive Remedy - Co- Worker Liability - Wrongful Death Where the parents of an electrician killed on the job brought a wrongful death against his employer, workers'...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Subpoena - EEOC Investigation - Relevance Where the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued an administrative subpoena requesting personnel files and documents from the...

Missouri jury awards elderly man over $361K for falling in a liquor store.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $361,597.94 verdict A jury agreed that an elderly man's liquor store run cost him more than the price of a packaged alcoholic beverage and served up support for the largest loss of services claim...

Missouri jury rules in favor of ER doctor accused of misdiagnosis leading to amputation.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense verdict Exposure to a chemical toxin that led to a man losing his left leg, and the emergency room treatment he received, failed to impress a Jackson County jury that heard his medical...

Missouri jury rules in favor of city officials in a civil right lawsuit.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense verdict An outspoken resident of a small town was basically told to be quiet when a federal judge granted a summary judgment for the defense during a civil rights lawsuit. "[His] own...

Mediation leads to split $80K settlement between a Missouri motorist and police officer.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $80,000 settlement Mediation settled an April 2002 traffic accident dispute between a motorist and a Springfield police officer. Marilyn McCracken was driving south on Jefferson Avenue,...

Commentary: what it means to 'represent a client zealously'.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Jim Adler As attorneys, we are well aware of Canon 7, which mandates every attorney to "represent a client zealously within the bounds of the law." Disciplinary Rule 7-101(A)(1) provides that "a lawyer shall not intentionally......

Commentary: too old to practice law? Client service outweighs age.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Edward Poll Two recent items on the topic of age and the practice of law caught my eye. One, an article in The Seattle Times about the "graying of the bar," was noticed by blawgers around the country. Noting that 66 percent of...

10-foot-high slab of polished granite erected at Metropolitan Square Building in downtown St. Louis.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Does anyone claim this monolith? A 10-foot-high slab of polished granite recently erected in front of the Metropolitan Square Building in downtown St. Louis looks like something designed to attract "2001: A Space...

N.Y.-based Milberg Weiss lawyers make their moves.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman attorneys are tackling the issue of the New York firm's 20-count indictment for class-action fraud in some pending cases in Missouri. The firm notified a judge of the indictment in...

St. Louis-based Thrifty Lewis, Rice & Fingersh looking for new space.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Allison Retka Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. continues to flirt with commercial space at Cupples Station as an option for a possible move, but its current lease at 500 N. Broadway may yank it from the running. Jack Pruellage,...

MO Lawyers in the News: June 9, 2006.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Blackwell Sanders has expanded to Lincoln, Neb., opening an office with three attorneys and three support staff. Donald G. Blankenau, partner; Thomas R. Wilmoth, partner; and Jaron Bromm, associate;...

Cole County judges - gatekeepers of the State.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling Because Missouri's government agencies and the legislature are located in Cole County, its trial judges are often called on to tackle polarized social issues, decide complex regulatory rulings and oversee insurance...

MO COA, Western District rules statute allows for award of attorney fees in agency proceedings.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons A mother who won an emergency Medicaid waiver after successfully challenging a denial on appeal is entitled to an award of attorney fees, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District ruled in a case of first...

Jackson County jury rules no liability for security company, mall where man was shot.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A man who suffered serious brain damage after being shot in the head during an attempted carjacking at a Kansas City-area shopping mall could not convince a Jackson County jury to award him millions in his premises...

MO Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: June 12, 2006.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Scope Of Agreement - Royalties Dispute - Invention Contract Where a plaintiff requested an accounting and a judgment for royalties he claimed due under a contract with a corporation...

MO Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: June 12, 2006.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Rule 29.15 - Amended Motion - Timeliness Where a criminal defendant's amended pro se motion was filed more than 21 months after the deadline for amendments had passed, the motion...

MO Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: June 12, 2006.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Attorney's Fees - 'Agency Proceeding' - Medicaid Benefits Where a plaintiff appealed her daughter's placement by the state Department of Mental Health on a waiting list for a...

United States Court of Appeals 8th Circuit Case Summaries: June 12, 2006.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Federal Reimbursement - Juvenile Officers - Evidence Where the Missouri Department of Social Services brought an action for federal reimbursement for services performed by...

Verdicts & Settlements June 12, 2006: Insurer's refusal to pay coverage turns out an unfruitful move.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $1,079,655.19 summary judgment An insurance company should have covered its client, Stark Brothers Nursery, when a customer sued the nursery for selling him 3,500 fruitless apricot trees, said a...

Verdicts & Settlements June 12, 2006: St. Louis County jury awards shuttle bus driver.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $342,020.32 verdict A St. Louis County jury said the driver of a shuttle bus rear-ended by another vehicle was entitled to $342,020.32 after viewing evidence that the spinal injuries he suffered...

Verdicts & Settlements June 12, 2006: Trucker could not avoid collision with oncoming vehicle.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense verdict A tractor trailer driver could not have avoided an accident that killed two people, a Greene County jury said after a seven-day trial. Kenneth Gillies and his passenger,...

Commentary: the First Amendment protects the press and the public.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Benjamin Lipman These are difficult times for the press. As others have pointed out, the "rules of engagement" between the press and the government have changed -- at least in part, in reaction to 9/11. Although these are difficult...

Commentary: court considers contract conundrum.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Most employees do not have employment contracts. Those in labor unions are governed by collective bargaining agreements, public sector employees are subject to civil service rules and personnel policies, as well...

The line forms here: new system in St. Louis Circuit Court may lead to delays.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright (This article originally appeared in The Daily Record, St. Louis, Missiouri, another Dolan Media publication). More bureaucracy is heading to the St. Louis Circuit Court, and from the looks of things, attorneys...

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District takes court on the road.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, will convene court at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Mo., on Tuesday, June 20, and Friday, June 30. The June 20 session will be...

KC legal community to aid Katrina victims.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The Kansas City legal community will come together as donors and volunteers to help Habitat for Humanity build house "shells" for one of 10 homes at the Liberty Memorial on Tuesday, June 20. The...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Springfield attorney David W. Ransin was honored by The Missouri Bar's Solo and Small Firm Committee at its annual conference at Lake of the Ozarks. Ransin received the Distinguished Service Award in...

Sexual abuse victim can sue later in life, Missouri Supreme Court rules.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons An individual alleging clergy sexually abused him more than 25 years ago may continue to pursue his lawsuit, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled last Tuesday. Settling conflicting rulings among state appellate courts,...

Contingency fees driving trend in commercial litigation.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale John and Sabina Guidry owned Simul-Vision Cable Systems Ltd., a small, independent cable company based in St. Louis. In 1984, they contracted with a large apartment complex to be the exclusive provider of cable...

Debtor's failure to list family leave claim as asset not fatal, 8th U.S. Circuit Court rules.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff A debtor is not barred from pursuing a Family Leave Act claim by his failure to list the claim as a potential asset in his bankruptcy filing, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The...

Paralegal posing as lawyer released on probation.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole After pleading guilty to 22 counts of fraud and serving 120 days in prison, John Tiller is a free man. Tiller, who earned notoriety for taking the money of convicts, their families and people facing criminal...

Mortgage document lawsuit pending in appeals court.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole A lawsuit over whether charging fees for the preparation of mortgage-closing documents constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is expected to be heard before the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals...

Plaintiffs' lawyers eye quick settlement in contact lens litigation.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher (This article originally appeared in Lawyers Weekly USA, another Dolan Media publication). Jennifer Samuel, 59, of Miami had been using Bausch & Lomb's ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution for a few...

Bankruptcy filings in Missouri start to return to normal.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick and Allison Retka The number of bankruptcy cases filed in U.S. bankruptcy courts is beginning to return to normal. After a flurry of filings before the new bankruptcy reform law that took effect Oct. 17, the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative School Board - Termination Of Employees - Authority Where a city board of education terminated 25 stationary engineers and outsourced their jobs to save money, an agreement...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Statute Of Limitations - Applicability - Prevailing Wage Act Even though an electrician who sued a general contractor for unpaid wages under the Prevailing Wage Act argued that...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Appeal - Jurisdiction - Extraordinary Writ Where a trial court denied a defendant's petition for a writ of mandamus on the grounds that his claims were moot, the court did not...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional Manufactured Home Act - Abandonment - Notice Where the Department of Revenue sent notice of a party's application for title to an abandoned mobile home only to the abandoned...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative LMRA - Preemption - Collective Bargaining Agreement Where a third-party plaintiff brought a complaint against a union for fraudulent inducement in a dispute alleging violations...

Verdicts & Settlements June 19, 2006: Car hits pedestrian on Manchester in rush-hour accident.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $122,000 verdict A St. Louis County jury found in favor of a pedestrian who was struck by a car as he crossed Manchester Road in Ballwin but also placed partial blame on him for not watching traffic more closely. ...

Verdicts & Settlements June 19, 2006: Dierbergs not liable for shopper's slip-and-fall injuries.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon Defense verdict A St. Louis County jury sided with a local supermarket chain in a slip-and-fall suit brought by a 55-year-old shopper. Jo Ann Wolff was pushing a shopping cart through the produce department of...

Verdicts & Settlements June 19, 2006: Resolution holdout hit with judgment, garnishment action.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $5.4 million settlement and $22.9 million verdict in hybrid cases A mix of defendants' insurers constituted a list of who would settle and who would not that could result in the families of two men killed in an...

Lawyer posse may pursue law poachers.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Bankruptcy attorney Leon Sutton's appearance at Laura Rhodus' first creditor's meeting in 2003 did not inspire his client's confidence. Rhodus, who hadn't met Sutton before the conference, later testified that he...

Kansas City financial advisor talks about protecting practices with disability income insurance.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Ken Smith Would you ever show up in the courtroom -- or at a client meeting -- without properly preparing your case or researching your client's situation? Of course not. In fact, for most lawyers, the idea of being poorly...

New Jersey federal judge orders St. Louis law firm to take over lead counsel in class action suit.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole A federal judge in New Jersey May 16 ordered St. Louis firm Green Jacobson & Butsch to take over as lead counsel in a class action lawsuit filed by former Trans World Airline (TWA) pilots. The move followed after...

A Missouri non-profit scholarship organization is accepting nominations for a lawyer award.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and non-profit scholarship organization Kids' Chance Inc. of Missouri are accepting nominations for the fourth annual Workers' Compensation...

Kansas City lawyers raise more than $20K for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Approximately 60 members of the Kansas City legal community traded hearings for hammers last week at Liberty Memorial for a Habitat for Humanity building blitz. The volunteers constructed...

The St. Louis Lawyers Association elects a president.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report The Lawyers Association of St. Louis June 1 elected a president, James Cantalin, partner with Carmody MacDonald PC. Other officers elected for the 2006-2007 program year are: President...

Missouri court rules in favor of plaintiff in employment discrimination lawsuit.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Allison Retka When plaintiffs' attorney Kristin Whittle Parke fielded an employment discrimination lawsuit for her client Tarek Al-Birekdar, an automotive electrician of Syrian decent, she had little doubt as to the preferable...

Missouri plaintiff has until December to file discrimination lawsuit.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Soon after being fired from her job at ADESA Auto Auction in Kansas City, Gloria Painter filed age and gender discrimination claims in December 2004 with both the Missouri Commission on Human Rights and the U.S. Equal...

Missouri Court of Appeals rules that gross misconduct defense may not be used in unemployment case.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling Wal-Mart's attempt to thwart a pot-smoking worker from receiving unemployment benefits after he was fired for violating the company's drug policy has gone up in smoke. At issue in the case was a Missouri...

Right of publicity suits in Missouri may increase due to the property suit of hockey player.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons A recent appellate court ruling in the intellectual property case of former hockey player Tony Twist could transform Missouri into a magnet for right of publicity suits around the country. The Missouri Court of...

Missouri dealership settles for $5.9M with passenger injured during a test drive.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A passenger who was injured during a chaotic test drive at a Kansas City Subaru dealership has settled his Jackson County case against the dealership and Subaru of America for $5.9 million. Stephen J. Underhill...

Missouri jury rules in favor of Michelin North America in wrongful death case.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A sudden accident that took the life of a 12-year-old girl more than two years ago was not the result of a defective tire. It took 80 minutes for a Jackson County jury to find in favor of Michelin North America...

Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Banks and Banking Deed Of Release - Demand Letter - Notice (1) Where plaintiffs sent their bank a demand letter for a deed of release under Section 433.130 and the bank failed to timely...

Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Criminal Law Guilty Plea - 'Knowing And Voluntary' - Admission Of Facts Where a criminal defendant claimed that his guilty plea was not knowingly and voluntarily made, there was a...

Missouri Western District Court of Appeals case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Criminal Law Witness Testimony - Discovery Violation - Rebuttal Evidence (1) Where overwhelming evidence supported a criminal defendant's conviction on charges of resisting arrest and...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Bankruptcy Chapter 11 - Case Dismissal - State Court Judgment Where a Chapter 11 debtor admitted that he filed bankruptcy to set aside a state court judgment, the bankruptcy court found...

U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Administrative Class Action - Postal Services - Jurisdiction Where a plaintiff filed a putative class action against the U.S. Postal Service claiming breach of contract based on the...

Missouri automobile negligence case settles for $370K.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $370,000 settlement A personal injury case resulting from an automobile accident in south St. Louis County was settled before expert discovery began. Plaintiff's attorney Noel Sevastianos said the plaintiff's...

Small cable company wins $706K in St. Louis City breach-of-contract case against apartment complex.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Anne Vitale $706,000 verdict The owners of a small cable company have won $706,000 in their St. Louis City breach-of-contract case against an apartment complex. John Guidry started Simul-Vision Cable Systems in 1984,...

Missouri product liability and personal injury case results in a split jury $60K verdict.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $60,000 verdict Two lawyers each claimed victory for their separate sides following a split jury verdict May 15 in a product liability and personal injury case. "Hey, it wouldn't be the first time that two sides...

Missouri automobile accident results in $2.4M settlement.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $2.4 million settlement The son and sole survivor of an elderly woman killed in a car crash won a $2.4 settlement. At about 5:40 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2004, Doris Edwards, 62, was driving her Jeep Cherokee westbound...