Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2008

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2008

Aspirin for pain at the pump.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Constangy, Brooks & Smith employee Dondra Dunbar is grateful she won't have to think too hard about the cost of gas when her family heads to southwest Missouri for a family get-together this summer. The...

Penalty box: West Plains attorney disbarred.(Frederick Martin III)(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole West Plains solo practitioner Frederick Martin III was disbarred in April for allegedly misappropriating money and failing to pay a client's medical bills out of settlement proceeds for several years after a $23,000...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: June 2, 2008.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff St. Louis-based Simon Passanante is hosting a CLE on June 4 that will benefit Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. The one-day seminar at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis will provide guidance in...

Missouri House of Representatvies: No limit.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Bryan Utter There appears to be no grounds for a legal challenge to lifting caps on campaign contributions, even according to critics of the measure passed by the Missouri House of Representatives on the final day of the most...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says debtor could appeal confirmation of her own plan.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco A debtor could appeal the confirmation of her own bankruptcy plan because she was forced to propose an amended plan, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided. In Zahn v. Fink, the bankruptcy court...

Commentary: Rarity of rural verdicts makes for few reports.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Will Connaghan So you've just signed up a personal injury case from a rural venue, and you wonder what kind of verdict you can expect from the potential jury. What do you do when there are not many cases to compare with the one you...

A whole new report card for the Missouri Bar.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri Bar is rolling out big changes in the evaluation process for the 48 commissioners and Supreme Court, appellate and trial judges that are up for retention Nov. 4 in the five counties guided by the...

'Special laws' keep passing in Missouri despite ban.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The Missouri Supreme Court threw out a law in 2006 for violating a constitutional prohibition against "special laws," but some say legislators are not paying enough attention to the ruling. The Supreme Court struck...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Notice Of Appeal - Timeliness Where a defendant appealed his conviction for prohibited sexual conduct in violation of county ordinances, the notice of appeal was untimely...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Parental Rights - Termination - Waiver Of Service (1) Even though a mother in a parental rights case was not served with a summons or petition in person, by mail or...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Jurisdiction - Marital Debt - Failure To Address Where a trial court failed to address the distribution of a couple's significant credit card debt in a judgment of...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Confirmation Of Plan - Standing - Aggrieved Party Even though the bankruptcy appellate panel approved a plan proposed by debtor, the debtor was an aggrieved party and had standing to...

Verdicts & Settlements June 2, 2008: Men shot by security guards settle for $1.2M.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Two men shot by security guards in an IHOP parking lot have reached a $1.2 million global settlement of their Jackson County claims against the security company and restaurant. Rashad Lewis, 24, and his...

Verdicts & Settlements June 2, 2008: Paralyzed passenger settles.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A passenger rendered a quadriplegic in a single-car rollover accident has reached a $1.25 million settlement in his Franklin County case against the allegedly drunken driver. Because of a confidentiality...

Verdicts & Settlements June 2, 2008: Fireworks display lawsuit settles for $787,500.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A fireworks display that spurred a wrongful death lawsuit has been fully settled, resulting in about $787,500 for the plaintiffs. The final defendants in the suit settled late last month for $245,000. Previous...

Verdicts & Settlements June 2, 2008: Ambulance service found not at fault.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Bridget Heos If paramedics arrive on a scene where a patient is unconscious, there is implied consent to help him. But defense attorney Frederick Starrett argued in this case that when somebody is conscious and capable of making...

Verdicts & Settlements June 2, 2008: Employee prevails in breach of employment contract case.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A St. Louis County Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of a former employee who was sued for breaching an employment contract. The court ruled the ex-sales manager is not required to reimburse his former employer...

Commentary: Be informed about informed consent.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Maridee F. Edwards "There may be some risks involved, but all in all, I think this is the way to go. So if you'll just sign here." Informed consent, as defined by the Rules of Professional Conduct, means you provide adequate...

Commentary: Lawyers shouldn't have to guess on ethics of online marketing.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Will Hornsby There was a time, not so long ago, that Internet marketing for lawyers consisted of signing up for online directories or maybe an e-mail newsletter. But these days, lawyers are getting much more sophisticated as they...

Commentary: How to respond to government investigations.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Erwin O. Switzer You are the in-house counsel at a company and take the first look at legal papers that come through the door. You quickly realize that the document with the Great Seal of the State of Missouri at the top is...

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District warns officers against traffic-stop delays.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, issued an opinion cautioning law enforcement from extending traffic stops without reasonable suspicion. In State v. Ross, the appellate court upheld the...

Missouri focus group was key to rare securities fraud verdict.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Will Connaghan It isn't often that a state court jury gets to hand down a verdict in a securities fraud case. Most of these cases end up in arbitration or in federal court, according to attorneys who handle this type of litgation....

Profits soar for top Missouri law firms.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Missouri Lawyers Weekly's third annual MOney checkup found the state's largest law firms went on a hiring spree in fiscal 2007 and made more money because of it, racking up a total of more than $2 billion in revenue...

How a Clayton attorney shut out major league baseball.(Rudolph A. Telscher Jr.)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter One by one, the 10 lawyers sent by Major League Baseball filed into the law firm conference room. On the other side of the table, Clayton attorney Rudolph A. Telscher Jr. stood to greet them, hopeful that the...

Missouri judges: Should race, gender matter?
June 9, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka Recently retired Judge Evelyn Baker has nothing but praise for the abilities of three nominees selected to replace her on the bench. She just wishes they were African American. Or female. Or both. "We're going...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District rules circuit judge didn't have jurisdiction.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka If a parent is way past due on his child support, the state's department of Social Services can suspend his driver's license, effectively grounding the parent until he pays up. The department says it's a measure...

Missouri polls case tests boundaries of sovereign immunity.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Bryan Utter A county election board's property interest does not, as a strict matter of law, end at the 25-foot perimeter beyond the doors of a rented polling place, according to the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District. ...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Challenge To Ordinances - Mootness - Attorney's Fees Where the City of Valley Park appealed a judgment declaring two city ordinances to be void, the enforcement provisions of...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Post-Conviction Relief - Abandonment - Omitted Claim Where a defendant's counsel filed a timely amended post-conviction motion, counsel did not abandon defendant for purposes of...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Right To Silence - Prosecutor's Comments - Self Defense (1)Where a murder defendant left the state prior to his arrest and was later apprehended by FBI agents, a prosecutor's...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Wrongful-Death Action - Dischargeability - 'Willful Injury' Where a wrongful-death action was filed against the mother of a child who died after being abused by the mother's...

Verdicts & Settlements June 9, 2008: Jury awards $4.5M for late cancer detection.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Holden woman received a $4.5 million verdict after several doctors and radiological technicians failed to promptly act on her concerns about a mass in her left breast. Linda Reynolds could have been a survivor...

Verdicts & Settlements June 9, 2008: Surviving children settle with imprisoned mother.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A mother convicted of torturing and killing two of her triplet sons settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by her other three children. Mary Bass, who is serving multiple life sentences following a 2001 murder...

Verdicts & Settlements June 9, 2008: Woman recovers for investment in failing company.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A Greene County jury found a Springfield-area businessman liable to an investor for nearly $500,000 in rescissionary damages on the investor's claims of violation of the Missouri Securities Act and fraud by omission....

Verdicts & Settlements June 9, 2008: Flight attendant wins $378,500 for retaliatory discharge.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A St. Louis County jury awarded $378,500 to a flight attendant claiming she was fired for filing a sexual harassment complaint against a Trans States Airlines pilot. Aimee Williams, 31, worked as a probationary...

Verdicts & Settlements June 9, 2008: Couple wins $345,000 verdict against K.C. police.(Kansas City)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An elderly Kansas City couple received a jury award for a scuffle with police officers four years ago. A Jackson County jury determined two Kansas City police officers used excessive force when they arrested...

Verdicts & Settlements June 9, 2008: Jury awards $175,000 to man struck at car dealership.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A St. Louis jury returned a $175,000 verdict in favor of a man struck by his girlfriend's car in the Lou Fusz Buick service department. The jury allocated 85 percent fault to the girlfriend, who settled before trial...

Verdicts & Settlements June 9, 2008: Family reaches settlement with driver in fatal wreck.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Parties in an automobile collision that killed a father have reached a $100,000 settlement. One man, Bobby Lee Walker, was riding a motorcycle when it collided with a car driven by Rebecca Donovan. Walker was...

Penalty Box: Missouri Supreme Court reduces sentence of disbarred Kansas City attorney.(Mary K. Hopkins)(Brief article)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole The Missouri Supreme Court gave Kansas City solo practitioner Mary K. Hopkins good news and bad news in May. The court disbarred Hopkins May 6 after she pleaded guilty in a drunk driving case, but also was...

Four floors and two years from now: Armstrong Teasdale's space in downtown St.Louis.(Armstrong Teasdale L.L.P.)(Brief article)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Armstrong Teasdale's space in the Metropolitan Square Building in downtown St. Louis is being advertised for lease, but that doesn't mean the landlord wants the law firm out of the building. "We hope they stay here...

Specializing the specialty: Missouri elder-law attorneys add nurses, social workers to their staff.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Paralegal, legal secretary and... nurse. A few Missouri elder law attorneys have added to their staff by hiring or contracting geriatric specialists such as nurses and social workers. What's being called life-care...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyer Weekly Staff Reporter St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Calvin is heading to Spencer Fane Britt & Browne after he leaves the bench this summer. Calvin, 57, announced in late May that he was leaving the court after...

Professors give Missouri courts an F.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Who would have thought the U.S. Chamber of Commerce would like Missouri courts better than academia? A recent study by three respected law professors at some of the country's best law schools has attempted to rank...

Missouri tort reform: Reform or deform?
June 16, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Nearly three years since Missouri overhauled its civil litigation system, the preliminary numbers seem to bear out at least one major claim made by both supporters and opponents of limiting injury lawsuits: tort case...

Missouri tort reform: Legal expert finds venue law unclear.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese When legislators pass laws, they make broad statements about the problems they're solving or what the changes will accomplish. But once the ink has dried, the courts must figure out what's really meant when provisions...

Tort reform: A brief look at Mo. Appellate Court decisions on the new provisions of tort law.(Missouri )
June 16, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report * SSM Health Care v. Schneider (July 2007, Eastern District Appeals Court): A man filed a medical malpractice suit against SSM Health Care in 2006 but failed to file a health care affidavit...

The personal is political for Mo. solo and small firm attorneys running for office.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka St. Louis solo practitioner Joan Landmann was dismayed she couldn't attend the Solo and Small Firm Conference at the Tan-Tar-A Resort in the Ozarks. Instead, she was to spend those precious hours canvassing the...

Low-tech can work when solos get big cases.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Will Connaghan Many solo practitioners and small-firm lawyers deal with fairly ordinary cases on a daily basis. Dissolutions, small-dollar contract disputes and assorted other general practice cases make up the bulk of their...

Punitives eight times actual damages ruled not excessive by 8th Circuit.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Bryan Utter The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that punitive damages of eight times actual damages is not unconstitutionally excessive. The court's opinion highlights the struggle this country's courts have in...

Demand for IP attorneys grows in Missouri as economy slows.(intellectual property)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Several of Missouri's biggest law firms share the same goal: Build a revenue-generating intellectual property business to take the weight off other sagging practices. Intellectual property attorneys say their...

Missouri Supreme Court sets precedent for inverse takings.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey The state's high court has opened the door for damage recovery from an undue delay between a blight designation and condemnation. The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a summary judgment in favor of...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Inadequate Brief - Pro Se Appellant Where an unemployment compensation claimant filed a pro se appeal of her disqualification from benefits, the brief was inadequate because...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Summary Judgment - Oral Motion To Dismiss - Constructive Trust (1) Where a trial court announced it was granting summary judgment to respondents after they orally requested...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance Vexatious Refusal - Co-Insurance Provision - Prejudgment Interest (1) Where a trial court awarded damages for breach of contract and vexatious refusal to pay to an insured following a...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative License Discipline - Supervision - Engineer's Seal Where a licensed professional engineer was hired to modify and complete plans started by an architect and the engineer did so,...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Res Judicata - Mandamus Relief - South Dakota Law Where plaintiff applied in state court for a writ of mandamus after being denied a liquor license and the state supreme court...

Making your case: Lessons from trial college.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Bridget Heos Whether you're an experienced attorney or a newbie, trials are unpredictable. Learning all you can beforehand gives you confidence to face the ups and downs in the courtroom. The Solo and Small Firm conference offers...

Making your case: It's a solo world in Missouri.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Sue Britt More than 60 percent of Missouri attorneys work in solo or small firms. A migration after law school back to a hometown, where there are no large firms in sight, could force the issue. It could be that one's area of...

Making your case: Class action a hurdle for small law firms.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Julia M. Johnson Class action casework can be ideologically rewarding, but it's too tall of a mountain for small firms to scale alone, legal professionals say. If your small or solo firm is approached about taking on its first...

Verdicts & Settlements June 16, 2008: Husband dies in explosive van-semi collision.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A national transportation company agreed to pay $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit. Matt Engen, driving a 2007 Volvo tractor-trailer for W.W. Transport on U.S. Highway 36 in Macon County, failed to...

Verdicts & Settlements June 16, 2008: Former ironworker agrees to $500,000 settlement.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Kyle Lewis A man settled his personal injury lawsuit for $500,000 after suffering back injuries in an automobile accident that caused him to quit his job. Plaintiff Leslie Edwards was driving on Missouri Highway 22 near...

Verdicts & Settlements June 16, 2008: Prior injuries did not detract from plaintiff's case.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Bridget Heos Knowing her client's medical history was key for plaintiff's attorney Laurie Del Percio in this slip and fall case. But even more important was making the jury understand that the plaintiff's prior injuries were...

Verdicts & Settlements: June 16, 2008: Girl harassed in restroom reaches deal with theater.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Lee's Summit theater agreed in May to confidentially settle a lawsuit brought by a young girl accosted in its restroom. Her allegations, which exposed flaws in the security surveillance system, prompted...

Verdicts & Settlements June 16, 2008: Construction firm wins almost $500,000 in judgment, verdict.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Kyle Lewis A Clayton attorney has won a verdict and judgment in Madison County, Ill., for a mold remediation company that was not paid for its work. David G. Waltrip, of Spoeneman Watkins Waltrip & Harvell, argued on behalf of...

Verdicts & Settlements June 16, 2008: Jury finds in favor of defense in FELA case.(Federal Employer's Liability Act)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Bridget Heos Defense attorney James Yeretsky said defense verdicts are rare in Jackson County Federal Employer's Liability Act cases. In this case, Yeretsky said, the defense verdict was the result of the jury believing that...

Neither orange dreadlocks nor 'scowling' accountant derail St. Louis case.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Two passengers with $14,400 in soft-tissue injuries sustained in a car accident received a $60,000 verdict from a St. Louis jury in their case against the two drivers. The jury ultimately found in favor of...

Commentary: Consider last years of your career transition time.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll Karen Mathis, immediate past chair of the American Bar Association, focused her term on developing a new awareness in the legal profession on the implications of the aging population. She said recently that 400,000...

Making other plans: Chief foes of Missouri Plan get outta town.(Jonathan Bunch and Bill Placke)
June 23, 2008... Byline: John DeMoor and Allison Retka The two leaders of Better Courts for Missouri -- a group that came close to changing the Missouri Court Plan in the Legislature this spring -- are leaving the state for jobs on the East Coast. Jonathan...

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Judicial Review Public Service Commission Illegal Transfer Of Account Where a gas service customer filed a complaint with the Public Service Commission claiming illegal transfer...

Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Motion To Sever Drug Offenses Where a defendant charged was with the offenses of possession and distribution of drugs and a felony count of maintaining or keeping a public nuisance, the...

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Brief Inadequate Domestic Case Where the brief of a pro se appellant in a dissolution case did not establish jurisdiction, contained an argumentative statement of facts and...

U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.(United States)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Class Action SLUSA Preemption Where plaintiffs' class action claims were the same as those asserted in Siepel v. Bank of America, the claims were preempted by the Securities...

Two cases consider different issues of juror bias.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco A juror's statement of affection for a defendant in a personal injury case means a new trial for plaintiffs whose son was kicked by a horse. Anthony Hudson was 6 years old when his grandfather, defendant...

Verdicts & Settlements June 23, 2008: Employee's slip and fall case settles for $400,000.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Cathy Kingsley Parties reached a settlement in the case of a woman who fell while working at a dry cleaners on Old Halls Ferry Road in Black Jack. This was not the first time the plaintiff, Carlotta Williams, had fallen at the...

Verdicts & Settlements June 23, 2008: City settles pension funding dispute.(City of Alton, Illinois)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley City of Alton, Ill., must abide by state laws The trustees of the Alton Firefighters Pension Fund reached a settlement with the city of Alton in its case to get full funding of the firefighters pension plan. According...

Verdicts & Settlements June 23, 2008: Jury awards $200,000 to woman injured by Coke products.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A St. Louis County jury awarded $200,000 to a woman injured at a grocery store when a tower of Coca-Cola products fell on top of her. Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. admitted liability. The issue really centered on the...

Verdicts & Settlements June 23, 2008: Insurer must honor clothing maker's $1M settlement.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A judge has ruled that an insurance company's policy does cover alleged wrongdoing by one business partner to another. St. Louis Circuit Judge Lisa Van Amburg found Cincinnati Insurance Co. must pay American Design...

Commentary: No free bite for Fido or his owners.(animal attacks)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Will Connaghan Most dogs fall into the category of man's best friend. They make loyal companions and excellent watch dogs, and some even herd livestock. But the occasional dog will severely maul someone whether or not they are...

Missouri Supreme Court opinion shrinks DWI charges.(driving while intoxicated)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole A man initially faced with a charge of second-degree murder for a 2007 accident in St. Charles County was set to have the charge reduced to involuntary manslaughter. In Platte County, a former attorney's six-year DWI...

Plaintiffs' attorneys hold talks for $16M settlement.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Plaintiffs' attorneys had to reach peace with each other as well as two defendants to come up with a $16 million proposed settlement in a lawsuit over an underground gasoline lake in Hartford, Ill. The settlement...

Kansas City-based Lathrop & Gage looks to grow.(Kerma Partners )
June 23, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Lathrop & Gage chief executive Joel Voran is taking a formal approach to the firm's growth by hiring a consulting firm whose role is to suss out merger partners. Lathrop & Gage hired Kerma Partners in March and is...

Verdicts & Settlements June 23, 2008: Man disabled by dogs' attack wins millions.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A Jackson County judge awarded $7.25 million to a man who was mauled by several pit bulls in 2006. Associate Circuit Judge Vernon Scoville III also awarded $300,000 to the man's wife for loss of consortium at the...

Washington University law school: transference issues.(Brief article)
June 23, 2008... Byline: MOLW Staff Washington University tied for second in a law professor's ranking of law schools that take the largest number of transfers as a percentage of their first-year class. Why does it matter? Brian Leiter, law and philosophy...

Missouri Court of Appeals says work on 'landmark' case worth more than $5K.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The Supreme Court decision was called a landmark by an advocate for the mentally ill, but Farmington solo practitioner Geoffrey Pratte initially was awarded only $5,097 for his work getting the case...