Recently added articles from Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press:

Suit targets former Kansas City Royal

Jul 14, 2008; Charles Emerick ... Woman says Emil Brown failed to pay settlement over allegedassault A lawsuit filed last week in Jackson County reveals allegationsthat a former Kansas City Royals player failed to pay a woman asettlement that covered up an alleged sexual assault. Emil Brown, an outfielder now ...

Cole County judge dismisses e-mail lawsuit against Gov. Blunt

Jul 14, 2008; Scott Lauck ... Ten-day window left for AG to join case A lawsuit over the e-mail policy of Gov. Matt Blunt might bedoomed after a Cole County judge on Friday dismissed the suit onprocedural grounds. In a brief order issued a day after he heard arguments in thecase, Judge Richard Callahan ...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: July 14, 2008

Jul 14, 2008; Charles Emerick ... Denials similar to those made last week by Kansas City areexpected soon from Mayor Mark Funkhouser and his wife, GloriaSquitiro, regarding a lawsuit brought by a former staffer. An attorney for Kansas City last week claimed plaintiff RuthBates cannot prove the claims in the ...

Missouri's illegal immigrant law draws worries, applause

Jul 14, 2008; Donna Walter ... While critics examine ways to challenge Missouri's new illegalimmigration law, one of its drafters says the law is on solid legalground. Kris Kobach, who teaches law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and who helped draft some of the provisions of the law,said he's "not ...

Commentary: A now, now, now mentality cuts both ways

Jul 14, 2008; Craig Napier ... Wow, this whole new-kid, wife-off-work, running-a-business stuffdidn't get any easier with the celebration of our nation'sindependence. I guess I should've expected it. I would love to speak today about the latest developments in thelegal world, and give them a little of my ...

$468,000 federal award counters $12M Missouri state verdict against quarry

Jul 11, 2008; Aaron Bailey ... A federal jury awarded two companies more than $468,000 thisweek, just a few months after a state jury entered a $12 millionverdict against the companies for claims arising from the sameissue. A Kansas City federal jury decided Wednesday that the small townof Greenwood, in ...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: July 11, 2008

Jul 11, 2008; Aaron Bailey ... A California man who is under federal investigation forrepresenting clients without a law license was briefly allowed topractice in the Western District. Howard O. Kieffer had filed a sentence reduction motion earlierthis year for a Missouri man who pleaded guilty to possession ...

DEA imposter faces 23-count indictment: President of First Bank Mortgage charged in separate case

Jul 11, 2008; Donna Walter ... U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway announced Thursday afternoon theindictment of a man who posed as a federal law enforcement officerin Gerald, Mo. Bill Anthony Jakob, 36, was charged in a 23-count indictmentalleging that he impersonated law enforcement officers and posed asa ...

Cole County judge considers dismissal of e-mail lawsuit

Jul 11, 2008 ... A Cole County judge was urged Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit overthe state e-mail retention policy of Gov. Matt Blunt's office. Blunt's lawyer, John Holstein, a former state Supreme Court judgewho is now in private practice, argued that there was no provisionin state law for the ...

Tow-truck driver's death earns family $4.87 million

Jul 11, 2008; Angela Riley ... The family of a tow-truck driver who was killed by a tractor-trailer driver in a hit-and-run accident near St. Louis last yearrecently reached a $4.87 million settlement with the truck driverand his employers.On April 30, 2007, Aaron Helfrich, working for Betty's Bumper ...

U.S. District Court tosses discrimination claim against Kansas City- based union

Jul 10, 2008; Aaron Bailey ... A federal judge rejected claims by five black men that they werediscriminated against by their union. The five men sued Kansas City-based Local 2 Sheet Metal Workers'Union on claims that they were denied job opportunity referralsbecause of their race. The suit was filed in 2006 ....

Mullen selected for St. Louis judgeship

Jul 10, 2008; Donna Walter ... Gov. Matt Blunt named Michael K. Mullen as a circuit judge on theSt. Louis Circuit Court. Mullen, 44, is an associate circuit judge on the St. Louis court.As a circuit judge, Mullen will handle more jury trials that involvemore serious cases, such as felonies and civil trials with ...

Allstate settles long-running bad faith suit in Jackson County Circuit Court

Jul 10, 2008; Charles Emerick ... Both sides have agreed to settle a lengthy and contentious bad-faith insurance dispute that influenced similar cases across thecountry. Allstate Insurance Co. and Paul Aldridge, a former policyholder,reached a confidential settlement after they met for the third timewith a ...

EEOC names regional attorney for the district including Missouri and Kansas

Jul 10, 2008; Angela Riley ... The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has selected anew regional attorney for the district including Missouri andKansas. Barbara Seely, a 29-year veteran attorney of the EEOC, will fillthe St. Louis District position. Seely has served as a litigator inthe district ...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules right to cross-examine doctors not there after all

Jul 10, 2008; Donna Walter ... Social Security claimants do not have a constitutional right tosubpoena or cross-examine the doctors consulted by administrativelaw judges in disability hearings, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court ofAppeals said. Wednesday's decision, by a unanimous panel, rejects dicta in an18-year-old ...

Overland Park-based Ferrellgas seeks to recover embezzled money

Jul 09, 2008; Charles Emerick ... An Overland Park propane gas company continues to battle formillions of dollars it says was lost due to a scheme headed by oneof its former employees. Ferrellgas, which recently won a $3.2 million judgment in PlatteCounty, is now going after its vendors who allegedly paired with ...

Potential merger of Kansas City-based law firms follows national trend

Jul 09, 2008; Aaron Bailey ... If it happens, Polsinelli-Shughart deal would vault new firm totop revenue, personnel ranks in state With two large Kansas City-based law firms considering a merger,how would a new powerhouse affect the legal landscape? Officials at Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus and ...

St. Louis-based Bryan Cave opens office in Paris

Jul 09, 2008; Angela Riley ... Bryan Cave has partnered with French attorneys to open its firstFrench office in Paris. Kathie Claret and Joseph Smallhoover, formally of the New York-based Dechert law firm's Paris office, are the principal attorneysfor the new location. About 20 lawyers will be added to the ...

Commentary: A crayon mistake had me condemned at 6

Jul 09, 2008; Christine Hughes ... At an early age I learned how it feels to be falsely accused. Iwas in the first grade at a small elementary school in Fortuna, Mo.My family was poor, and at the start of the school year I did nothave a box of crayons, not even a small box of eight colors. One day I asked a little ...

Kansas City's law firms of Polsinelli, Shughart may merge

Jul 08, 2008 ... Two of Kansas City's largest law firms announced late Mondayafternoon that they are exploring a potential merger. In a press release, CEOs from Polsinelli Shalton FlaniganSuelthaus and Shughart Thomson & Kilroy said that "while the duediligence process has only just begun, they are ...