Missouri Lawyers Weekly articles from October 2006

Missouri Lawyers Weekly archives from October 2006

Kansas City attorney doubling the stakes in his marathon running campaign.(Steve Gorny donates money to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick, Kansas City Daily Record Kansas City attorney Steve Gorny renamed his 12-in-12-for-12 marathon running campaign in August. The Kansas City attorney has raised $19,000, surpassing his goal to raise $12,000 for...

Sonnenschein ranked top law firm for women.(Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick, Kansas City Daily Record Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal offers the best career opportunities to women lawyers in the United States, according to a recent report. The survey conducted by the Women's Law...

U.S. District Judge Stohr announces plan to retire.(Donald J. Stohr )(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. District Judge Donald J. Stohr has announced plans to retire at the end of the year. In a letter to President George W. Bush, Stohr said he intends to continue as a senior judge. ...

Baird elected as Missouri Bar President.(C. Ron Baird elected)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Springfield attorney and Missouri Bar President Elect C. Ron Baird officially took the reins of the organization at the bar's Board of Governors' meeting Sept. 27. Baird, a partner at Baird, Lightner, Millsap &...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: October 2, 2006.(Katherine M. Massa joins Sandberg, Phoenix & von Gontard PC)(Juliann Johnson joins Blackwell Sanders)(John M. Kratofil joins Sanders Conkright and Warren LLP )(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff On The Move St. Louis Area Katherine M. Massa joined the firm of Sandberg, Phoenix & von Gontard PC as an associate. Kansas City Area Juliann Johnson joined Blackwell Sanders'...

Missouri Supreme Court to look at termination statute of parental rights.(Case overview)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons In cases involving the termination of parental rights, the Missouri Supreme Court will determine when the required study of the child's best interests must be filed. Although in its opinion the Missouri Court of...

Proposed change in Missouri's ex parte rule to benefit whistleblowers.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Tammy Worth A proposed change in Missouri's professional conduct rules allowing ex parte communication between plaintiff's lawyers and former employees of a corporation will go a long way to benefit whistleblower litigation,...

Missouri Bar holds off advertising for ballot initiative.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole The Missouri Bar is holding off on advertising in support of a ballot initiative on judicial salaries because the measure lacks noteworthy opposition. If the proposed constitutional amendment passes, it would...

Bar will back bills on prenups, child support.(The Missouri Bar )
October 2, 2006... Byline: Donna Walter Dolan Media Newswires Premarital agreements, child support and child custody are among the issues The Missouri Bar board of governors has opted to push in the Missouri General Assembly in the upcoming session. Ann...

High society street fight goes to Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Some prominent St. Louisans continue to duke it out in court with a developer over a cul-de-sac in Chesterfield. The disagreement over whether the cul-de-sac in a neighborhood of million-dollar-plus homes was meant...

St. Louis City Circuit Court judges vote for hybrid docket system.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Allison Retka Dolan Media Newswires In a tense bid for compromise last Monday, St. Louis City Circuit Court judges voted 25 to 6 to adopt a hybrid docketing system that expands individual dockets to 18 divisions, effective Jan. 1....

Former employee charged with stealing from Springfield court.(Rhonda Bateman)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole A Greene County grand jury indicted former Springfield municipal court employee Rhonda Bateman in connection with $1.2 million missing from the court. Bateman, who was fired in July, pleaded not guilty to three...

Feeling the Heat: Missouri Supreme Court assessing work loads in state trial courts.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling In a move that could allow a judiciary to shape its own destiny - rather than have the legislature force one upon it - the Missouri Supreme Court launched a year-long assessment study which will evaluate work loads...

Anticipating judicial attacks.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Supporters of Missouri's judges were caught flat-footed two years ago when Missouri Supreme Court Justice Richard Teitelman came under attack by conservative groups 17 days before his retention election. Judiciary...

State's chief disciplinary counsel resigns.(Maridee Edwards leaves as chief disciplinary counsel)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Stephanie Maniscalco After five years at the helm of the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, Maridee Edwards has announced her resignation. Sam Phillips, deputy chief disciplinary counsel, will lead the office while the state...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: October 2, 2006.(Cosby v. Cosby)(domestic relations case)(Blackwell v. Simmons)(negligence case)(termination parental rights investigation)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Appellate Practice Judgments - Finality - Pending Count Where a trial court entered judgment on three of four counts for a county in a contract dispute with a construction company, one claim...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: October 2, 2006.(Fogle v. State)(criminal law case)(State v. McMeans)(child molestation case)(Kirkegaard v. Northfork Outfitters, Inc. )(unemployment compensation case)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Rule 24.035 - Guilty Plea - Counsel's Advice Where a criminal defendant received a letter from his attorney about the consequences of a guilty plea, the letter was sent after his...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: October 2, 2006.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Employee Disqualification List - Abuse - Evidence Where a certified nurse's aide was placed on the employee disqualification list after a hotline call from witnesses who claimed...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court - App. Panel: October 2, 2006.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Student Loans - Dischargeability - Undue Hardship Where a bankruptcy court determined a debtor's student loans to be dischargeable, the court's finding was not reversible error...

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Case Summaries: October 2, 2006.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Deadly Force - Qualified Immunity - Instructions Where a district court in a civil rights case instructed a jury on the use of excessive force in a case in which officers had shot...

Verdicts & Settlements, October 2, 2006: Fast delivery proves expensive for Joker's Pizza.(civil negligence case)(Lemen v. Joker's Pizza)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $1 million settlement An Oak Grove, Mo., man who was severely injured in a crash with a pizza delivery driver reached a $1 million settlement with the driver and pizza business. Carl Lemen, 55, was driving from...

Verdicts & Settlements, Oct. 2, 2006: Pressure on insurance co. helped boy avoid stepmother's suit.(Mandy McMahan, v. William Garth McMahan)(wrongful death case)(Case overview)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $600,000 settlement Determining insurance coverage was critical in the case of a 15-year-old driver whose stepmother planned to sue over the death of his father in a single-vehicle crash. The plaintiff, Mandy...

Verdicts & Settlements, Oct. 2, 2006:Car crash disability case resolved.(Michelle and Daniel Conger v. Webco Manufacturing Inc. and Jack J. Gibb III)(traffic accident case)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $500,000 settlement The extent and nature of injuries suffered by a former Internal Revenue Service employee in a car crash underwent close examination before a $500,000 settlement was reached. The plaintiff...

Verdicts & Settlements, October 2, 2006: Man paralyzed after spine surgery settles case.(Stanley Robinson v. A. Semi Nassif, M.D., and Saint Louis University)(medical malpractice case)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon Confidential settlement A 48-year-old St. Louis man who was left paralyzed following a spinal surgery reached a confidential settlement on the second day of trial with the radiologist who performed the procedure. ...

St. Louis City jury rules midtown building worth five times city offer.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Emily Umbright - Dolan Media Newswires If there's one thing a real estate agent will say about property value, it's "location, location, location." And that's pretty much what a St. Louis City jury said last Wednesday in...

Missouri attorneys receive awards.(David Bell, Charles Gentry and Megan Phillips )
October 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff David Bell of Kansas City left behind a big firm paycheck to be a public defender because he felt passionate about helping the underdog. Charles "Chip" Gentry was given the reins of a Jefferson...

Missouri-based coal mining co. wins $6.4M verdict against state.(Alternate Fuels Inc.)
October 9, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale A southwest Missouri coal mining company has won a $6.46 million verdict against a Missouri Department of Natural Resources employee claimed to have intentionally interfered with the company's business operations....

Missouri Court of Appeals rules Saint Louis University may accept public development funding.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District ruled last Tuesday that Saint Louis University, despite its Jesuit origins, is not a religious institution and isn't prohibited by the state constitution from accepting...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District case summaries: October 9, 2006.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Judgment - Finality - Pending Claims Where claims remained pending against one party in a breach of contract and negligence action, the judgment was not final, and the appeal...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District case summaries: October 9, 2006.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Prosecutor's Comment - Failure To Testify - Improper Reference Where a prosecutor commented that a defendant did not make statements to anyone about why he assaulted the victim,...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District case summaries: October 9, 2006.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Confirmation Of Award - Settlement - Release Agreement Where consumers who defaulted on three credit card accounts executed a settlement and release agreement and the creditor...

United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals case summaries: October 9, 2006.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Employer - Employee Discrimination - Age - Gender Where a female research analyst sued her employer for gender and age discrimination after she was terminated as part of a reduction in force...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Michael Williams.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons Michael Williams is dedicated to promoting diversity and equality in the workplace, issues he champions both inside and outside of the courtroom. As a partner at Lathrop & Gage, Williams has built a practice...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Amy Fite.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Victoria Siegel Amy Fite's first exposure to the field that would become her passion was in July 1992. She was in the parking lot of a grocery store and saw a woman swing a belt at her child. Fite also observed another child in...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: David Bell.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons Many attorneys wouldn't leave behind a big firm paycheck to pursue a career as a public defender, but that's exactly what David Bell did. "I wanted to do something that motivated me and that I enjoyed doing," Bell...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Randall Thompson.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Randall Thompson, a partner at Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, likes to put things into perspective for new associates by telling them about the first case he tried as a labor and employment attorney. It was a sex...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Megan Phillip.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Victoria Siegel Megan Phillips' passion for women's issues and the law began during her school years. It was further nurtured at Bryan Cave LLP when she met Kathleen DuBois. "Kathleen took me under her wing and got me involved in...

A Missouri tractor-trailer crash case settles month before trial.(Michael Smith, et al. v. Simmons Foods)
October 9, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $800,000 settlement A 40-year-old man who nearly lost his arm in a cross-over crash with a tractor-trailer settled his lawsuit against the big rig's owner. The parties reached a settlement of $800,000 a month...

Missouri family settles with Warrenton Oil Co. for crash-related injuries.(Peggy, Dwight and David Lemons v. Warrenton Oil Co.)
October 9, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $457,500 settlement An injured family settled with an oil carrier company following a crash south of Columbia, Mo. The plaintiffs, Peggy, Dwight and David Lemons, were traveling south on U.S. Highway 63 when a...

Missouri Bar to provide online legal research.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Members may soon get free online legal research courtesy of the Missouri Bar. After a few months of study, a bar committee looking into providing the service has narrowed the field of possible vendors to two:...

Illinois-based law firm moves into Bank of America Plaza.(Burroughs, Hepler, Broom, MacDonald, Hebrank and True )(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Illinois firm Burroughs, Hepler, Broom, MacDonald, Hebrank & True added nearly 9,000 square feet of office space in downtown St. Louis when the firm moved into the Bank of America Plaza Oct. 2. Burroughs Hepler is...

Rule 13 offers real-world lessons for law students.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Bridget Heos Dawn Parsons prosecuted five trials by the time she graduated law school. Supervised by an attorney, she did research, examined witnesses and gave opening remarks while juggling law school at the University of...

Internet site on legal preparedness launched.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff The nonprofit MidAmerica Public Health Law Emergency Response Committee has launched a new website as a source of topical information for public health professionals, attorneys, journalists, businesses,...

Missouri legal professionals receive awards and recognitions.(Tim O'Leary been honored)(Ellen Suni from Missouri-Kansas City School of Law receives award)(Cheryl K. Rose joins Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association )(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Tim O'Leary, assistant circuit attorney for the City of St. Louis, was recognized Sept. 29 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis as the recipient of the prestigious 2006 Lon O. Hocker...

Missouri Supreme Court voter ID hearing illustrates the importance of the subject.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Last week's Missouri Supreme Court hearing on the voter ID law was a sharp illustration of the importance of the subject and the high emotions it has engendered. The hearing, held less than three weeks after a Cole...

MO court rules judge biased after refusing to incorporate non-cohabitation clause in divorce decree.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons Contributing Writer A trial judge failed to consider the best interests of the children after he refused to incorporate a non-cohabitation restriction clause into the custody portion of a divorce decree, the Missouri...

Kansas City-based Lathrop & Gage adds mock courtroom in $10 million renovation.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole In a bid to showcase Lathrop & Gage's litigation services, the firm is opting to spend some of its $10 million renovation allowance on a mock courtroom. The Kansas City-based law firm is renovating its 170,000...

Missouri Supreme Court examines if juries must be sworn.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Missouri statute and court rules both agree that juries in criminal trials must take an oath to fairly consider the case before it and to listen to the court's instructions. But does the oath that jurors take when they...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Bill Holland.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Finding a niche in his personal injury practice, Bill Holland represents victims injured in a series of explosions involving two fireworks manufacturers in Jefferson County, Mo. -- Sunset Fireworks and Pyro Products....

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Robert (Bob) Buckley.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Victoria Siegel With a father who is an attorney, two brothers who are attorneys, and a handful of cousins who practice law, Robert (Bob) Buckley's career path was pretty clear except for one detail: he is the only defense...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Shelly Dreyer.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons Growing up with a father who did employment arbitration exposed Shelly Dreyer to the legal system and influenced her decision to become an attorney. "My father did a lot of advocating for employees," Dreyer said....

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Charles A. Gentry.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck At a Carson & Coil PC retreat last February, the firm's partners officially chose to make Charles A. "Chip" Gentry their managing partner. It wasn't necessarily a surprise - Gentry had been unofficially serving in the...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Tom Fagan.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Foreshadowing his winning attitude with clients in his civil litigation practice, Tom Fagan won a client counseling award as a law student at St. Louis University. His approach - both then and now - was to follow the...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Rick Paul.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Rick Paul moved around the country with his family 14 times before settling in Liberty, Mo., right before his junior year in high school. He also bounced around in his legal career before finding his niche in class...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Jeffrey Dunn.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Jeffrey Dunn lost a business litigation case a year and a half ago, but not by nearly as much as the client had feared. Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard attorney Dunn was representing a manufacturer in a products...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Scott Robbins.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons By providing safe drinking water and helping to organize a rural sewer district, Scott Robbins has improved the health and quality of life for thousands of people in southeast Missouri. Robbins was instrumental in...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Charity Elmer.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole When Charity Elmer was about to interview for the position of general counsel at Springfield-based Cox Health Systems in 2004, Curt Chase was the attorney she called to talk to about health law. "He's definitely...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Lon Walters.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Since setting out to become a lawyer 18 years ago, Lon Walters has exchanged a corn-and-soybean farm in a town of 500 for a stylish office in downtown Kansas City. But in some ways, he hasn't changed much at all. ...

Up & Coming Lawyers 2006: Mike Rader.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Mike Rader finds inspiration in a file he keeps in his office that holds pictures, letters and postcards from former clients. One handwritten note from a woman he represented in a medical malpractice case over the...

Missouri jury favors defendant in rear-end highway collision case.(L&S Enterprises Inc.)
October 9, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon Defense verdict A Jackson County jury gave the right-of-way to a dump truck driver who was rear ended by a woman who suffered multiple arm and leg fractures. The plaintiff asked the jury for a verdict of between...

St. Louis court rules defendant in auto accident can still win defendant's verdict.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Anne C. Vitale Defense verdict Citing a common misconception, a defendant in an automobile accident case who admits liability can still win a defendant's verdict, defense attorney Lawrence R. Smith of St. Louis said about a...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: October 16, 2006.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Expungement Order - Motion To Vacate - Interlocutory (1) Where a plaintiff obtained an order expunging an arrest record but then obtained a subsequent order vacating the...

Missouri Supreme Court Case Summaries: October 16, 2006.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Elections Tobacco Tax - Proposed Amendment - Single- Subject Restriction (1) Where the trial court properly counted disputed voters' signatures gathered for an initiative petition proposing a...

Verdicts & Settlements October 16, 2006: Injured driver gets insurance policy limit payments.(Johnston v. Robert McKee)
October 16, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $125,000 payment A car crash victim's insurance claims were paid in a negligence and personal injury case before settlement discussions were started. David Johnston's back and right knee were injured when his...

Verdicts & Settlements October 16, 2006: Chiropractor collects for injuries in rear-end crash.(Dr. James Rains v. William Johnson Payne)
October 16, 2006... Byline: Mike Nixon $89,932 settlement A chiropractor who sought treatment from six doctors for nerve damage suffered in a 2003 rear-end crash settled his case in Boone County. According to plaintiff's attorney Laurie Del Percio,...

Verdicts & Settlements October 16, 2006: Family settles lawsuit over tractor accident death.(Tammy Peters and Shay'L Peters, a minor v. Deere & Co., and Missouri Sow Center Inc.)
October 16, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Staff Confidential settlement The family of a sow farm worker who was killed after he was run over by a tractor settled its lawsuit against Deere & Co. and Missouri Sow Center Inc. in August. The...

Commentary: Wal-Mart has woes, but wins two discrimination cases.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Marshall Tanick Wal-Mart has its share of legal problems these days. The litany includes ongoing disputes with labor unions, repeated clashes with zoning authorities, legislation in Maryland requiring it to provide improved...

Lawyer Terence MacCarthy makes cross-examination a 'monologue'.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher, Dolan Media Newswires Listening to Terence MacCarthy discuss cross-examination is like sitting in an Irish pub with a witty companion sharing oft-told stories - a pint in his hand and a glint in his eyes. ...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: October 16, 2006.(Leo H. MacDonald Jr. from Carmody MacDonald receives award)(Charles Weiss from Bryan Cave LLP receives award)(Veryl L. Riddle from Bryan Cave LLP receives award)(Brief article)
October 16, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Leo H. MacDonald Jr., principal at Carmody MacDonald, was recognized as the recipient of the prestigious 2006 Tom Cochran Community Service Award. This honor is awarded annually by the Young Lawyers'...

Candidate for MO Legislature deployed to Iraq with the Army Reserves, wounded, redeployed.(Jared Welch of Missouri)
October 16, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Jared Welch has never had a chance to run what you might call a normal legislative race. Welch, a Platte County attorney in his first bid for elected office, is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Jason Brown for...

MO Court of Appeals rules client who failed to pay attorney fees entitled to have jury trial.(Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District)(John Picerno vs. Nancy Nichols-Fox)
October 16, 2006... Byline: Joy Simmons A client who breached a contract with her attorney was entitled to a jury trial on damages after a default judgment was entered against her, the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District ruled. The Oct. 10...

Strong free-agent market seen in Missouri.(law firms)
October 16, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick - Dolan Media Newswires Free agency isn't just a baseball phenomenon. Especially in recent years, lawyers are moving from firm to firm. And these lateral talent transfers are changing the look of Missouri's...

Missouri Supreme Court upholds tobacco tax ruling.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Supreme Court last Wednesday ruled that a proposal to raise the state's tobacco tax will go before voters on the November ballot. The court, in a ruling that came just one week after it heard arguments...

Missouri Supreme Court considers whether pet stores need pharmacists.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck Years ago, in one of his first appearances before the Missouri Supreme Court, attorney Dan Boulware suggested a novel interpretation of a state statute. The court's answer: if he wanted to change the law, he should take...

Saint Louis University's bar passage rates sluggish; University of Missouri-Kansas City's rising.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Saint Louis University School of Law's bar passage rates stand out this year for not changing much at all. The results of the July Missouri Bar Exam helped document a steady increase in passage rates for first-time...

Starting pay up for new lawyers in Missouri, but gaps remain.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Heather Cole Lathrop & Gage boasted that the Kansas City firm offered one of the top benefit plans among law firms in the state. But when it came to recruiting, the firm was "not getting credit" from potential first-year...

Missouri railroad case heard by U.S. Supreme Court.(Norfolk Southern Railway Co.'s case of negligence)
October 16, 2006... Byline: Geri L. Dreiling Missouri lawyers - and Missouri jury instructions - were front and center before the United States Supreme Court Oct. 10 in the case of Norfolk Southern Railway Company v. Sorrell. The issue before the Court...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Summaries: October 16, 2006.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Change Of Judge - Timely Application Where a party in a domestic relations case filed a timely application for a change of judge, the trial court was required to grant the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Case Summaries: October 16, 2006.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Rule 29.15 - Counsel - Effectiveness Even though counsel for a defendant convicted of methamphetamine possession and manufacture failed to object to an improper instruction, the...

Policies and procedures for doctor clients about e-mail with patients.
October 23, 2006... Byline: Reni Gertner Dolan Media Newswires Here are some policies and procedures that attorneys should consider when advising doctor clients about using e-mail with their patients: * Outline permissible uses. Given the array of...

Convicts seek retroactive use of drug-sentence law at Missouri Supreme Court.(state law exempting drug treatment sentences)
October 23, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck A trio of cases heard by the Missouri Supreme Court Oct. 17 are aimed at retroactively applying a recent state law exempting drug treatment sentences from consideration in determining the length of an offender's...

Missouri court waives sovereign immunity in intersection crash case.
October 23, 2006... Byline: Charles Emerick A panel of appellate judges went into great detail in striking down a governmental immunity argument by Jackson County. In a 27-page opinion handed down last Tuesday by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western...

Missouri appeals courts to require more electronic filings.
October 23, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck and Heather Cole The Western and Eastern districts of the Missouri Court of Appeals aren't quite ready to go paperless, but they're getting there. Starting Jan. 1 of next year, the Western District will require all...

Sexual predators question tool that rates recidivism risk in Missouri Supreme Court.
October 23, 2006... Byline: Scott Lauck A trio of cases heard in the Missouri Supreme Court last week questioned the role of a widely used actuarial tool that helps the state determine the risk that sexually violent predators will commit additional crimes....