Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from May 2004

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from May 2004

Builder prevails in first condominium warranty case.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A condominium developer has scored a defense win in the first condo warranty case tried in Missouri. Owners of the units complained of numerous construction defects in their lawsuit -- above all, that their...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: May 3, 2004.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Attorney's Fees - State Agency - Guardianship Proceeding Where the trial court ordered the Department of Social Services to pay attorney's fees and costs to the guardian in a...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: May 3, 2004.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Hearsay - Confidential Informant - Improper References Where a prosecutor in a drug case repeatedly referred to statements made by a confidential informant to an investigating...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: May 3, 2004.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative State Legal Expense Fund - Police Board - Sovereign Immunity Where the attorney general's office refused to defend members and officers of the St. Louis Board of Police...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: May 3, 2004.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Husch & Eppenberger announced that Michael S. Nichols has joined the firm's Springfield office as an associate in the General Business Litigation Practice Group. Nichols, a 1997 graduate of the...

Husband murdered wife to get life insurance.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Aaron Brown It sounds like an episode of Law and Order -- a 25-year-old woman dies on a camping trip with her husband, a minister, who says he found her body in a pond. Her grieving parents accept his story, and even take him...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: May 3, 2004.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Diversity - Principal Place Of Business - Evidence Where a plaintiff claimed it was a Wisconsin corporation in a diversity action against an Arkansas defendant but the evidence...

Verdicts & Settlements May 3, 2004: Man died after colon surgery.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendant's Verdict The family of a man who died following colon surgery sued for medical malpractice. Theodore Smith, Jr., 63, underwent a colon resection on July 7, 2000 for suspected colon...

Verdicts & Settlements May 3, 2004: Builder prevails in first condominium warranty case.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A condominium developer has scored a defense win in the first condo warranty case tried in Missouri. Owners of the units complained of numerous construction defects in their lawsuit -- above all, that their...

Exclusion for prostate disease was invalid, Missouri Supreme Court finds.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A health insurance policy that excluded coverage for a man's prostate cancer violated a state statute prohibiting discrimination "on the sole basis of sex," the Missouri Supreme Court has ruled in a case of first...

Grandfather could not 'split' his visitation.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones A grandfather could not get visitation with his granddaughter while at the same time refusing visitation with his grandson, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District has ruled in a case of first impression....

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: May 3, 2004.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Post- Judgment Interest - Cross Appeal - Docket Fee Even though a judgment debtor attempted to file a cross appeal, the docket fee was not paid in a timely manner so the appeal...

Verdicts & Settlements May 3, 2004: Man died in apartment fire.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendant's Verdict The adult children of a St. Charles County man who died in a fire sued the owners of his apartment building for negligence. Ron Testerman, 57, lived on the first floor of an...

Verdicts & Settlements May 3, 2004: Nightclub patron killed by security guard.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.6 Million Settlement The family of a man killed by a security guard outside a nightclub sued the security company's insurance carrier for bad faith Josef Gerle and a friend were at Gerry's...

Jehovah's Witness dies of blood loss after surgery.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale The family of a Jehovah's Witness who died of blood loss after routine gallbladder surgery won $412,500 in their St. Louis County medical malpractice case against the surgeon. Because the patient, Linda Grissom,...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: May 10, 2004.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice New Trial Motion - Judgment - Finality Where a party was successful in its motion for a new trial after a jury verdict against it in a civil case, the judgment against it was...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: May 10, 2004.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Admissibility - 'Bad Acts' - Motive (1) Where a criminal defendant who convinced a girlfriend to assault his wife was shown to be obsessed with the wife and with keeping custody...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: May 10, 2004.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Rulemaking - Promulgation - Website Where the Board of Pharmacy set out a new policy in the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of its website, the policy was an improperly...

Forgery case should have been submitted on punitives.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Where a company recorded loan documents on which the plaintiff's name had been forged, his claim for punitive damages in a subsequent tort case should have gone to the jury, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western...

Missouri Court of Appeals says trespasser clotheslined by cable can't sue.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A farmer who strung wire cable across a passageway on his property was not liable for the injuries of an ATV-riding trespasser who hit the cable, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Southern District has ruled. The...

U.S. Bankruptc Court - App. Panel Case Summaries: May 10, 2004.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Management Company - Fees - Breach Of Agreement Even though a management company hired to run a Chapter 11 debtor's hotel failed to obtain a surety bond as required by the...

Parents filed products case over Ford Escort.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendant's Verdict The parents of an 8-year-old girl who was killed in a car accident sued Ford Motor Company for products liability. On Feb. 3, 2002, James and Sheila McGill and their two...

St. Louis attorney Charles A. Seigel receives Harley Award.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Missouri members of the board of the American Judicature Society selected Charles A. Seigel, a partner at The Stolar Partnership LLP in St. Louis, to receive the 2004 Herbert Harley Award. The AJS...

Verdicts & Settlements May 10, 2004: 21-year-old killed in accident.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.2 Million Settlement The family of a 21-year-old man killed in a single-car DWI accident sued the driver of the car. On April 4, 2001 Michael DePriest was a passenger in a car driven by his...

Verdicts & Settlements May 10, 2004: Company sues insurer for bad faith.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.89 Million Verdict A company that was hit with a $1.7 million auto accident verdict after its liability carrier refused a policy-limits settlement offer sued for bad faith. In July 1995, an...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: May 10, 2004.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff N. Scott Rosenblum recently re-ceived the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' 2004 Atticus Finch Award, presented for demonstrating the high moral, ethical and professional standards...

Tort reform arguments are injected into Missouri Supreme Court case.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Geri Dreiling Even though tort reform legislation has been vetoed by Gov. Bob Holden, arguments about the medical malpractice "crisis" are making their way to the Missouri Supreme Court. On May 19, the court will hear a lawsuit...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: May 10, 2004.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights ADA - Parking Placards - Fee Where the state's practice of charging $2 for a windshield placard enabling physically disabled people to park in certain parking spaces was...

Verdicts & Settlements May 10, 2004: Two KU students injured in collision.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $1 Million Settlement Two Kansas University students injured in a car accident in Colorado filed suit in St. Louis County against the driver of their automobile. During their fall break in October...

Dad's visitation canceled because of sex abuse.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A father who was granted visitation with his daughter even though he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing her could have the visitation taken away in a subsequent modification proceeding, the Missouri Court of Appeals'...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: May 17, 2004.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Judgment - Finality - Pending Claims Where claims remained pending against defendants in a medical malpractice action, the trial court's judgment dismissing additional...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: May 17, 2004.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Rule 74.05 - Transcript - Failure To Record (1) Even though an appellant in a civil case failed to file a motion to set aside a judgment before filing their appeal, the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: May 17, 2004.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Banks and Banking Interest Rate - Short- Term Loans - Default Where a lender obtained a default judgment against a borrower of a short-term loan and the trial court ordered the judgment to bear...

Women Lawyers' Assn. of Greater St. Louis presents Murphy Scholarship.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The Women Lawyers' Association of Greater St. Louis presented Danielle Pelot, a first-year student at St. Louis University School of Law, with the 2004 Linda J. Murphy Scholarship at the organization's...

Missouri court couldn't make 'primary' physical custody award.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff A divorce decree should not have awarded a husband "primary" physical custody of his children because the statute speaks only of "joint" or "sole" custody, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Eastern...

U.S. Bankruptc Court - App. Panel Case Summaries: May 17, 2004.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Homestead Exemption - Out- Of-State Property - Public Policy Where debtors filed their Chapter 7 petition in the state of Minnesota where they had lived for years and claimed a...

Verdicts & Settlements May 17, 2004: Truck crushed automobile.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $250,000 Settlement The father of a 39-year-old woman who died in a vehicular accident sued a truck driver and his employer for wrongful death. On Aug. 8, 2003, ____ Gold was a passenger in a car...

Verdicts & Settlement May 17, 2004: Family injured in car accident.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $290,000 Settlement A father and two daughters injured in a car accident sued the other driver. On Feb. 9, 2000 Wayne Abt was driving his 1984 Chevette north on Highway 61 in Ste. Genevieve...

Verdicts & Settlements May 17, 2004: Police officer said he was 'scapegoat'.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendant's Verdict A police sergeant who claimed he was "scapegoated" after officers beat a mentally disabled African-American man sued for civil rights violations. On April 14, 1997 two St....

Verdicts & Settlements May 17, 2004: Woman died after fall in kitchen.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $450,000 Settlement The daughter of a 73-year-old woman who died after a fall in her kitchen sued the company that was providing home health services and one of its nurse assistants. Doris Martin...

Verdicts & Settlements May 17, 2004: Officer wins $600K sex harassment verdict.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A former police officer has won $600,000 in a sexual harassment case against the Kansas City Police Department. Rose Mitchell Ealy claimed that fellow officers and supervisors in the Drug Abuse Resistance...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: May 17, 2004.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Warren S. "Turk" Stafford, of Taylor, Stafford, Clithero, FitzGerald & Harris LLC, received the Distinguished Attorney Award from the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association. The award is the highest...

Discovery sanctions in $5M asbestos death case upheld.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Where a company denied in interrogatory answers that it ever worked with asbestos, but two weeks before trial re-vealed that it did, sanctions entered against the company were not an abuse of discretion, the...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: May 17, 2004.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Drug Possession - 'Ultimate User' - Testimony Where a defendant convicted of possession of a controlled substance claimed that he was an "ultimate user" under Section 195.010...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: May 17, 2004.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative FAA - Regulations - Heliport Where a business owner who objected to a neighboring landowner's helicopter sightseeing business moored large balloons on his property and near the...

Missouri Court of Appeals says pre-existing pain didn't trigger fund liability.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Even though a woman had received treatment for hand and arm pain before she was injured at work, the Second Injury Fund was not liable for workers' compensation benefits, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western...

Doctors successful in two 'catastrophic' med-mal cases.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale The outcomes of two recent medical malpractice cases show how defense attorneys can successfully navigate the challenges posed by suits involving death or severe injury. In a Greene County case, a 22-year-old...

Defendant gets fees incurred in rent case.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A tenant who defended a rent case could recover his attorney fees because the plaintiff filed suit only after working a fraud on the court, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Eastern District has ruled in a case of first...

Proposal to hike OCDC budget assailed by MoBar.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Aaron Brown A behind-the-scenes battle is brewing over the proper role of the state's Chief Disciplinary Counsel. The Missouri Bar Board of Governors is balking at Maridee Edwards' bid to increase the OCDC budget by about 35...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: May 24, 2004.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Dismissal - Set Aside - Subject Matter Jurisdiction Where a trial court set aside a dismissal with prejudice of all of the claims of parties to a civil case, the order was...

Springfield history buff pursues passion.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Springfield attorney and self-proclaimed history buff Rick Schnake started collecting historical letters, documents and signed photographs nearly 20 years ago. His collection began with a special...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: May 24, 2004.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Notice - Pro Se Litigant Where a defendant in a suit to recover uninsured motorist benefits claimed a judgment entered against him was void because he did not receive the...

U.S. Bankruptc Court - App. Panel Case Summaries: May 24, 2004.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Relief From Stay - Pre- Petition Case - State Court Where debtors filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases to stop pending state court litigation and to avoid the imposition of a bond...

Verdicts & Settlements May 24, 2004: Fire truck hit car.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendant's Verdict A driver who was hit by a St. Louis City fire truck sued the city and firefighter for negligence. On Dec. 6, 2000, a vehicle traveling east on Carr Avenue at 1st Street slid on...

Verdicts & Settlements May 24, 2004: Man fell at apartment building.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendant's Verdict A man who fell at a public housing complex sued the City of Columbia for premises liability. In March 2002, Carlton Miller went to see his brother at Pacquin Towers, an...

Verdicts & Settlements May 24, 2004: Phantom vehicle hit plaintiff.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $220,282 Settlement A woman injured in an accident with a phantom vehicle sued two insurance companies for uninsured motorist coverage. On April 7, 1995, John Curran was driving his Ford Taurus...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: May 24, 2004.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff David Helfrey, a founder and senior partner at Helfrey, Simon & Jones PC in St. Louis, will be a featured speaker at an international conference this September in Beijing, China. As an expert in...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: May 24, 2004.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Banks and Banking Mortgage Loans - Interest Rates - 'Lawful' Where Missouri borrowers who obtained second mortgage loans from a California bank claimed the fees, costs, and interest rates...

United States Court Of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: May 24, 2004.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Student Loans - Discharge - Ripeness Where a Chapter 13 debtor who was entitled to a discharge of debts in three and a half years filed an adversary petition seeking discharge of...

Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice White Addresses Conference.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronnie L. White discussed the Missouri nonpartisan court plan at the 2004 Policy History Conference on May 22 in St. Louis. White's presentation was part of...

Jefferson City attorney named youngest utility commissioner.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Jefferson City attorney Jeffrey Davis, 31, recently became the youngest utility commissioner in the nation, according to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Gov. Bob...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: May 31, 2004.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Kathie Dudley, an associate with Gallop, Johnson & Neuman LC, has joined the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc. Dudley specializes in financial and estate planning and previously was a...

Used car dealer is hit for $518K in fraud lawsuit.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling A couple who bought a pickup truck that had been welded together from two separate vehicles won over $518,000 in their Jackson County fraud case against a used car dealer. Frank and Shelly Krysa claimed that...

Treating doc who testified was paid for his prep time.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Kenneth C. Jones Even though a med-mal defendant gave a treating physician materials to review before his testimony and paid him $500 an hour for his time, the physician was a "non-retained" expert, the Missouri Court of Appeals'...

St. Louis doctor, pharmacy settle death case for $2.2M.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A recent $2.2 million settlement shows that pharmacists cannot expect to be shielded from malpractice liability simply because they accurately fill a doctor's prescription. In this St. Louis City case, the widow...

Missouri Court of Appeals says prejudgment interest is allowed on punitives.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Plaintiffs could get prejudgment interest on punitive damages awarded in their intentional tort case, the Missouri Supreme Court has ruled in a case of first impression, overruling Court of Appeals cases to the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: May 31, 2004.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Judgment - Finality - Legal File Where an appellant's legal file did not contain a copy of the judgment and sentence, appellant's file failed to comply with Rule 30.04(a)...

Verdicts & Settlements May 31, 2004: Teen sues over knee surgery.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $342,290 Verdict A 17-year-old who claimed he was injured during knee surgery sued for medical malpractice. In 1998 Jon Hoffman of St. Louis went to Dr. Joseph Williams, an orthopedist, for knee...

Verdicts & Settlements May 31, 2004: Sifford killed in plane crash.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.55 Million Settlement Dale Sifford, the father of Chris Sifford, who died in a plane crash together with Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan and pilot Randy Carnahan, sued several companies for products...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: May 31, 2004.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Prejudgment Interest - Punitive Damages - Used Car Sale (1) Where a car salesman told buyers that vehicle identification numbers had been scratched out on a car to avoid its...

U.S. Bankruptc Court - App. Panel Case Summaries: May 31, 2004.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Unpaid Wages - Exemption - Iowa Statute Where a Chapter 7 debtor who worked as a teacher claimed an exemption for her accrued, unpaid summer wages, the debtor could use Iowa...

U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit Case Summaries: May 31, 2004.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Fee- Splitting Provision - Unconscionability - Evidence Where an arbitration agreement contained a fee-splitting provision, the provision did not make the whole agreement...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: May 31, 2004.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Employer - Employee FMLA - 'Employer' Integrated Employers Where a plaintiff who claimed her employer discriminated against her in violation of the Family Medical Leave Act showed that the...

Verdicts & Settlements May 31, 2004: Wife said husband gave her herpes.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendant's Verdict A woman who claimed her husband gave her herpes filed a marital tort claim against him as part of their divorce case. Sarah Ray and Stanley Wisdom were married in 1997. Sarah...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: May 31, 2004.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Treating Expert - 'Non- Retained' - Payment Where a treating doctor's testimony in a medical negligence case was limited to his care and treatment of the plaintiff based on his...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: May 31, 2004.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Rule 24.035 Motion - Counsel - Effectiveness Where counsel for a criminal defendant did not call character witnesses to testify at defendant's sentencing hearing because counsel...

Verdicts & Settlements May 31, 2004: Buyers sue used car dealer for fraud.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $518,449.53 Verdict A couple who bought a pickup truck from a used car dealer sued for fraud after they discovered the pickup had been rebuilt after a bad wreck. In November 2000, Frank and Shelly...

Verdicts & Settlements May 31, 2004: Parents sue son-in-law for wrongful death.
May 31, 2004... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff $30 Million Verdict The parents of a woman who was murdered in 1998 at the age of 26 sued her husband for wrongful death. Brandy Swope married Todd Johnson in October 1996. On Dec. 19, 1998,...