Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from November 2007

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from November 2007

Kansas City-based Shughart Thomson signs up Doogie Howser, J.D.(Interview)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Shughart Thomson & Kilroy attorney Guillermo "Gabe" Zorogastua started first grade a year early in his native Peru. He later got bumped up another half a year because of the difference in school year schedules when he...

Textbook faced wrath of Ind. Univ. law student accused of shooting a rifle from his balcony.(Indiana University)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole It was a textbook co-authored by a Washington University visiting law professor that faced the wrath of an Indiana University law student accused of shooting a rifle from his balcony last month, according to a report...

Missouri Supreme Court reprimands attorneys for loans to judge.(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday issued public reprimands for four Kansas City lawyers who loaned money to a municipal judge. The attorneys, Salvatore J. Mirabile, Vincent M. Esposito, John M. Quinn and Cecil...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: November 5, 2007.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The Appellate Judicial Commission is accepting applications for the position of judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District. A vacancy was created on the court by the departure of Patricia...

Missouri Supreme Court resolves conflicting venue statutes.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Miranda Fleschert Municipal, county government and school district leaders will have to pack their bags for a little traveling if they get hit with a tort claim that is outside their county. The Supreme Court of Missouri ruled...

Arbitration panel in Missouri awards widow $6M.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole The widow of a doctor killed when he was trying to help a car accident victim deserves $6 million from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, an arbitration panel decided. Collette Harrison will...

Missouri Gov. Blunt's efforts at booting illegal immigrants met with lawsuit.(Governor Matt Blunt)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Gov. Matt Blunt has made a series of moves in the past couple of months aimed at rooting out illegal immigrants in Missouri. One has already led to a lawsuit, and immigration attorneys warn more could be on the horizon....

Missouri Court of Appeals rules knife to man's throat did not show specific intent to harm.(Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco A man who pressed a knife to the throat of a co-worker and threatened to kill him beat a first-degree assault conviction this week when the Court of Appeals found insufficient evidence of his intent to cause...

Police seize state of Missouri senator's urine, prompt debate.(Senator Chuck Graham)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A Columbia police officer and a doctor nearly came to blows over a state senator's urine last month, setting up the possibility of a high-profile legal battle over when police power supersedes privacy laws. Sen....

U.S. Supreme Court drifting.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Everyone knows Antonin Scalia is among the most conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court, just as they know that Sandra Day O'Connor abandoned Scalia and the other conservatives and became a moderate. But...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Voir Dire - Juror Nondisclosure - Expert Witness (1) Where a juror did not realize at the time of voir dire that he was distantly related to a medical malpractice plaintiff's...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Murder Trial - Opening Statement - Judge (1) Even though a prosecutor in his opening statement in a murder case said "I shot her until she was dead" as part of his description of...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Accounting Firm - Permit Application - Member's Misconduct Where the Missouri Board of Accountancy denied a firm's application for a permit based on a firm member's criminal...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Rulemaking - Medicaid Days - Calculation Where the state Division of Medical Services did not set out a procedure for calculating estimated Medicaid days resulting in a...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Retaliation - First Amendment - Police Sergeant Where a police sergeant who was demoted and transferred brought an action against his supervisors claiming he was retaliated against...

St. Louis Circuit Court favors sign company; earlier suits went to plaintiffs.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka, Heather Cole Defense verdict A company that supplies traffic control signs secured three favorable verdicts in an April trial over a highway crash that saw two other construction companies pay out $13.5 million...

Manufacturer prevails in Lafayette County Circuit Court in suit over deadly guardrail collision.(Trinity Industries, Inc.)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Defendant's verdict A Lafayette County jury took just 30 minutes to return a verdict in favor of a manufacturer of end treatments for highway guardrails. The product liability lawsuit stemmed from a guardrail...

Jackson County Circuit Court hits bar owner with $125K verdict for sexual harassment.(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale $125,000 verdict A Jackson County jury awarded $125,000 to a waitress who accused a Kansas City-area nightclub owner of sexual harassment. The award included $115,000 in punitive damages. Jessica Todd, 22,...

Jackson County Circuit grants employee $96,927 arbitration award against Ford dealership.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A Ford employee received a $96,927 arbitration award in her Jackson County case against a Kansas City-area Ford dealership. She alleged a dealership representative violated the Merchandising Practices Act by making...

Former insured wins defamation case against Allstate in St. Louis Circuit Court.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale $1 million verdict A St. Louis jury awarded $1 million to a man claiming that Allstate Indemnity Co. defamed him in an insurance claim denial letter. The award ranks as the state's largest verdict in an...

Letter to the Editor: No fun in the sun on my dues.(Letter to the editor)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Editor: Mandatory bar dues should not be used to send the Board of Governors to the Bahamas ["Wish You Were Here," Oct. 22]. The Missouri Bar is in the nature of a not-for-profit organization...

Letter to the editor: Bar uses its fees wisely.(Missouri Bar)(Letter to the editor)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Editor: The article by Kelly Wiese about The Missouri Bar mid-year meetings is inaccurate at best. In the first paragraph she writes that members of the Board of Governors of the Missouri Bar are...

Expert on terror cases shares jurors' thoughts.(Interview)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Justin Rebello As the United States proceeds with its War on Terror, Americans working overseas are in constant peril, a fact that has created significant legal risk for their employers. The regular threats of violence...

St. Louis Circuit Court Clerk Mariano Favazza: The incredible shrinking circuit clerk.(Medi-Cal Weight Loss Clinic)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole As a former heavy person, St. Louis Circuit Court Clerk Mariano Favazza still views chairs with arms with some fear. "Even now, that trepidation, that pause hits you. Then you sit down, you've got room on both...

Greene County consolidates court clerks.(Greene County Circuit Court)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Greene County Circuit Court has consolidated its clerks so it can get more of them. The court combined employees from the office of the circuit clerk, associate circuit clerk and probate clerk to lift a standing...

Missouri Supreme Court reprimands Springfield attorney.(attorney Bill Todd)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole The Missouri Supreme Court gave a public reprimand to Springfield attorney Bill Todd after an earlier drug problem led to a misdemeanor charge and two years of unsupervised probation. The Office of Chief...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: November 12, 2007.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Blackwell Sanders was recognized as a "highly recommended leading litigation firm" in Missouri in the 2008 debut edition of Benchmark: Litigation, published by Institutional Investor and the legal...

Mo. Gov. Blunt administration, former lawyer's emails raise legal questions.(Missouri Governor Matt Blunt)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese The firing of a staff attorney by Gov. Matt Blunt has some studying the legal implications of what happens when attorney-client privilege and the open records law collide. The questions arise after the Blunt...

Pro bono policies in Missouri changing for good.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole The goal of Bryan Cave's new pro bono policy wasn't necessarily to take on controversial and high-profile cases, but that's what has happened on both sides of the state since it took effect last year. In Kansas...

Law firms in Missouri refuse to OK projects under new TIF law.(Armstrong Teasdale and Gilmore & Bell)(Tax Increment Financing Law)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole TIF-funded projects in the St. Louis suburbs proposed next year could be on hold because a law requiring the creation of county tax increment financing commissions rests on shaky constitutional ground. The statute...

Platte County Circuit Court rules against nursing home in negligence case for man's suffering.(Barry Manor and White Oak Manor; John Novogradac)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Bridget Heos $3 million verdict A Platte County jury returned a verdict of $3 million for a daughter whose father was neglected while under nursing home care. Although the man died of unrelated causes, the jury found that...

Mo. Court of Appeals, Eastern District rules laser hair removal may not be a health service.(Missouri)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Miranda Fleschert Laser hair removal, even when conducted in a doctor's office by a registered nurse, is not necessarily a health care service, according to the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District. On Aug. 14,...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Long-arm Jurisdiction - Minimum Contacts Where a Tennessee company hired a Missouri company to provide tool and die services and the contract was accepted in Tennessee, the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Escape Rule - Drug Offender Where a drug offender failed to appear for his sentencing hearing and was apprehended more than two years later, the defendant forfeited his right to...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Appellate Procedure- Dismissal Where a pro se plaintiff's petition against the Director of Revenue was dismissed because the Director was not served with the summons or petition and...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Retaliation - City Employee Where the director of a municipal certification program for minority businesses lost his job when the city eliminated the department, the district...

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Mo. rules rental company not liable for injuries.(Missouri; Rental Service Corp.)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Defendant's verdict An equipment rental company has prevailed in a product-liability suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. "Rental Service Corp. takes the safety of its...

Chef's family settles suit over his death in I-44 crash near .(Kim Cuoto; Jorge Cuoto)(Joplin, Missouri)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole $2 million settlement The scattered family of an unemployed chef who died last year in a traffic accident near Joplin reached a $2 million settlement with a semitrailer driver and trucking company Colonial Freight....

Medical experts on the radar of Missouri medical professional groups.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Reni Gertner Leaders of medical associations in Missouri and across the country have increasingly been hearing complaints about medical experts hired by plaintiffs' and defense lawyers to speak on any topic and others paid a...

Missouri Court Of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: November 19, 2007.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Contracts Validity Of Contract - Missouri Title Loan Statutes - Standing Where two lenders, HSBC and Budgetline, entered into separate security agreements with a borrower who defaulted on both...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: November 19, 2007.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Hearing - Lack Of Transcript - Driver's License Where the Director of Revenue appealed the reinstatement of driving privileges, the lack of a transcript required reversal of the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: November 19, 2007.(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law First- Degree Murder - Exculpatory Evidence - Videotape Where a defendant convicted for the first-degree murder of his law partner could have used a building surveillance...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: November 19, 2007.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Race Discrimination - Evidence - Time Limit (1) Where an African-American woman who worked as a customer service specialist brought claims of race discrimination and retaliation...

Verdicts & Settlements Nov. 19, 2007: Double fatality case settles for $1.4 million in Lewis County.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale $1,455,000 settlement The families of two women killed in a rear-end collision have reached a global settlement of $1,455,000 in their Lewis County case against the other drivers. "Prior to tort reform...

Verdict & Settlements Nov. 19, 2007: Employer accused of retaliation prevails in workers' comp case.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Defendant's verdict A St. Louis County jury returned a verdict in favor of a company accused of workers' compensation retaliation. The company denied retaliation, contending that it terminated Anthony Johns for...

Verdicts & Settlements Nov. 19, 2007: Dispute over insurance coverage settled after 11 years.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole $300,000 settlement The case of the vanished insurance coverage was settled 11 years after the accident that prompted a claim. American States Insurance Co., Jack Freiburg Insurance Agency Inc. and broker John...

commentary: Evidence lacking in case against Missouri judiciary.(Adam Smith Foundation and Missourians for Fair and Impartial Justice dispute)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Columnist Dan Margolies That six former Missouri Supreme Court judges appointed by both Democratic and Republican governors have come out in support of the state's Nonpartisan Court Plan says a lot about the fundamental integrity...

Courts across the country are split on 'take home' asbestos cases.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson With traditional asbestos cases declining, plaintiffs' lawyers' attempts at a new breed of lawsuit are getting a mixed reaction. "Take home" asbestos cases typically involve an employee exposed to asbestos...

Say what? Understanding the role of interpreters.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Dan Heilman Imagine that your client is in a hearing or a deposition, but that he's surrounded by a thick wall that muffles his speech and makes it hard for the judge and other concerned parties to understand him. A similar...

From the St. Louis County Municipal bench to the bookshelf.(Interview)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese After years of hearing defendants proclaim they're not guilty, St. Louis County Municipal Judge Renee Hardin-Tammons admits she is guilty of enjoying great soul food. The weight of the evidence leans in that direction,...

Missouri Supreme Court allows attorney to withdraw from criminal case.(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Michael Kielty, whose representation of admitted child abductor and abuser Michael Devlin is wrapping up, recently got another criminal defense case off his plate. The defense of accused killer Joseph Snyder...

Missouri Supreme Court rules against Cheshire Inn restaurant in St. Louis revisited.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole It looks like the former operators of the Cheshire Inn restaurant in St. Louis will have to pony up $244,000. The Missouri Supreme Court on Oct. 30 declined to hear an appeal of the award for the owner of the...

Worth magazine names three Missouri lawyers in top attorneys list.(Zerman & Mogerman)(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Worth magazine's 100 Top Attorneys list this year includes three lawyers from Missouri: Kansas City-based Lathrop & Gage Chief Executive Joel Voran; Stephen Daiker, a partner in Bryan Cave's St. Louis office; and Cary...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: November 19, 2007.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Foundation gave James R. Wyrsch, president and shareholder of Wyrsch Hobbs & Mirakian, the 2007 Liberty & Justice Legacy Award. The award is given in recognition of the...

Missouri Legal Briefs: November 19, 2007.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco Plaintiff gets her two days in court A district court's three-day limit on a Title VII trial was approved this week by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Plaintiff Karen Harris was allocated two days to...

Missouri Court of Appeals offers new tactic in divorce.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter In upholding the multimillion-dollar division of property in Ray and Deanna Vinson's divorce, the Missouri Court of Appeals has introduced a new concept in Missouri: judicial estoppel in dissolution cases. Deanna...

Missouri Lawyers Weekly survey of lawyers doing guardian ad litem work shows poor pay.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole So you like kids and want to look out for their interests. You want to be a guardian ad litem. Don't expect to be paid well. Family law attorneys looking for the best-paying guardian ad litem work would do...

Missouri Supreme Court changes attorney disciplinary process.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Attorneys automatically will be assumed to be in agreement with a recommended disciplinary action unless they file something to the contrary with the chair of an advisory committee appointed by the Missouri Supreme...

Left-leaning laughter: Lawyers Association of St. Louis puts on its Gridiron Show.(Brief article)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Richard Jackoway When the Lawyers Association of St. Louis puts on its Gridiron Show, everyone takes their good-humored licks. Gov. Matt Blunt (Judge Glenn Norton dressed in beanie and short pants) was lampooned for his treatment...

Mo. Supreme Court denies former St. Louis elections commissioner bid to regain his law license.(Kevin Coan)(Brief article)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Kevin Coan, a former St. Louis elections commissioner who became one of the poster boys for Republican sex scandals after a 2001 Internet sting, lost his bid to regain his law license. The Missouri Supreme Court on...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circui Case Summaries: November 26, 2007t.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Retaliation - Spoliation - Iranian Teaching Assistant (1) Where an Iranian teaching assistant brought employment discrimination and civil rights claims against his university...

St. Louis surgeon prevails in St. Louis Circuit Court in case over failed kidney transplant.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Defendants' verdict A surgeon has prevailed in a St. Louis medical malpractice lawsuit over a failed kidney transplant. Even though the case involved a "very complex" medical issue, St. Louis defense...

Uninsured motorist carrier found liable for collision in Jackson County Circuit Court.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Anne C. Vitale $940,000 verdict In a collision case involving a phantom driver, a Jackson County jury pinned liability on the plaintiff's uninsured motorist carrier rather than a defendant identified by a witness as the phantom...

Bryan Cave's Seabaugh in St. Louis tackles Post cereal deal.(Bill Seabaugh)(Brief article)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole On the heels of working on a $2 billion deal wrapped up in October, Bryan Cave attorney Bill Seabaugh is helping Ralcorp put together its $2.6 billion purchase of Post cereals. St. Louis-based Ralcorp Holdings Inc....

U.S. Attorney trims $6.7 million off judgment.(Brief article)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole The U.S. Attorney's office knocked $100,000 off a $6.7 million judgment by appealing and then settling a lawsuit over a car crash involving a federal employee. Kenneth Foit, an employee with the U.S. Department of...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The University of Missouri-Columbia's School of Law honored six attorneys, two judges and a law student at its Nov. 10 annual Law Day, a homecoming for alumni and friends. Honorees and their awards are:...

St. Louis lawyer becomes landfill litigator.(Todd Hageman)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Bridget Heos The Coyote Landfill near Navarre, Fla., was for only construction waste. So why, according to a former manager's deposition, were engines, batteries, household garbage, tanks of propane, gasoline and solvent,...

Missouri Bar Economic Survey asks who makes more?
November 26, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Female attorneys have never made more, but are more underpaid than ever. The $300 an hour rate for trial work is becoming the standard in Kansas City. And tort reform doesn't appear to have hurt the take-home pay of...

Mo. Court of Appeals Western District upholds largest verdict of '05.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck With a series of high-dollar awards under its belt, Grant Davis' firm has had plenty of opportunities to put the law to the test. "It's probably a good thing when one of the issues on appeal is remittitur," Davis...

Missouri Bar's board seeking diversity with new nominations.
November 26, 2007... Byline: John DeMoor The Missouri Bar's board of governors approved a time frame to select candidates to fill three new board seats. The three new governor's positions, approved at the board's meeting in September, are designed to offer...

Mo. Bar commits $500,000 to fight for plan.
November 26, 2007... Byline: John DeMoor After what appeared to be a slow start to counter attacks against the Nonpartisan Court Plan, The Missouri Bar has approved $500,000 to defend the state's process for selecting judges. The half-million-dollar war...

New eminent domain jury instructions challenged in Missouri.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole The Missouri Bar eminent domain committee is asking for a hold on updates to jury instructions for condemnation cases. The committee informally voted to support existing jury instructions at a Nov. 16 meeting in...

Mo. Supreme Court reprimands Cobitco president.(Cynthia Bitting of Cobitco Inc.)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole The Missouri Supreme Court reprimanded the head of a St. Louis business for her role in asking for a discount on a $1 million promissory note. The court issued the reprimand Oct. 30 against Cynthia Bitting,...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Stealing - 'Services' - Sufficiency Of Evidence Where a car owner took his car from a repair shop without paying for parts worth $368 and labor worth more than $1,993, the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Final Settlement - Probate Case - Jurisdiction Where appellants who claimed they were heirs to an estate appealed from a judgment granting a final settlement and distribution...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Child Support - Modification - Jurisdiction Where a trial court dismissed motions brought by the Division of Family Support for the court to approve proposed modifications to two...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Settlement Agreement - License Discipline - Felony Conviction Where a pharmaceutical company that pleaded guilty to felony violations entered into a settlement agreement with the...