Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press back issues from December 2007:
Ramage trial ends in $9.5M verdict
Dec 03, 2007; ... Canadian civil law allowed the late Keith Magnuson's family whatU.S. law would not -- millions from a rental car company that wouldowe nothing had his accident occurred in the United States. A St. Louis County jury deliberated for just under two hoursFriday before issuing the $9.5 ...
Commentary: Future looks bleak for 18-year-old client in jail
Dec 03, 2007; ... I had a conversation this week with a young man that will staywith me for a long, long time. It's a criminal case I've written about in the past. It's a young client, who at this point will not listen to me ormy veteran partner. The client is looking at spending a very, ...
Ex-General Re officials' trial may highlight Buffett
Dec 03, 2007; ... Two former General Reinsurance Corp. executives may argue attheir trial that contracts they arranged with American InternationalGroup Inc. didn't defraud investors because their boss, billionaireinvestor Warren Buffett, knew what they were doing, defense lawyerssaid. General Re's ...
Officers in traffic stop miscarriage file suit over unpaid suspensions
Dec 03, 2007; ... Two Kansas City police officers claim they followed departmentprotocol when they denied a pregnant woman's plea that she neededmedical attention during a traffic stop last year. In a lawsuit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court on Thursday,officers Melody Spencer and Kevin Schnell ...
An element of Missouri's school funding case could be a national first
Dec 03, 2007; ... While politicians and school officials alternately celebrate anddecry a judge's ruling that Missouri's school funding system isconstitutionally sound, a less visible element in the case quietlycould be setting a national precedent for education litigation. About half of Missouri's ...
Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: December 3, 2007
Dec 03, 2007; ... A Blue Springs business picked up a rare defense verdict lastweek in a lawsuit alleging age discrimination under the MissouriHuman Rights Act. Meyer Laboratory, which manufactures and sells industrialcleaning supplies and chemicals, survived a claim that it fired a 53-year-old ...
Attorney defends hog odors in rural Missouri areas
Dec 04, 2007; ... Normal farm smells associated with living in the country do notentitle a rural Missouri family to millions of dollar, a lawyer fora leading pork producer told a Jackson County jury. During opening statements on Monday, defense lawyer Joe Reiddenied a Gentry County family's claims ...
Taxpayer-intervenors to remain in Missouri's school funding suit
Dec 04, 2007; ... A judge Monday denied a request from suing school districts todrop from the case three taxpayers who intervened to defend thestate. The suing districts, collectively known as the Committee forEducational Equality, have said they plan to seek review by theMissouri Supreme ...
Missouri lawmakers offer bills on courts, taxes, alcohol for '08
Dec 04, 2007; ... In the opening hours of bill filing, legislators have offeredproposals making it a crime to use alcohol or drugs while pregnant,adding new judges and asking voters to limit courts' authority. Many of the ideas were proposed during this spring's session, orearlier, but failed to ...
As mortgage crisis deepens, some seek aid -- or lawsuits
Dec 04, 2007; ... In Overland, the Trueblood family was doing its best to get by.Husband John worked two jobs to support the family, and his wife,Cheryl, stayed at home to take care of their three kids. Times got tougher for the family when John lost his second job.As a cook at a local restaurant, ...
Taxpayer-intervenors to remain in school funding suit
Dec 04, 2007; ... A judge Monday denied a request from suing school districts todrop from the case three taxpayers who intervened to defend thestate. The suing districts, collectively known as the Committee forEducational Equality, have said they plan to seek review by theMissouri Supreme ...
Awards, next leader on tap for Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Assn.'s annual meeting
Dec 05, 2007; ... The judge behind one of the nation's most divisive decisions inrecent years will highlight the largest annual gathering of lawyersin Kansas City. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III, whose 2005 rulingregarding the teaching of intelligent design in public schools drewworldwide ...
Missouri Supreme Court rules Ford data can't be shared
Dec 05, 2007; ... The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that in a fightbetween efficiency and confidentiality, confidentiality wins. In a 5-2 decision, the court made absolute a writ of prohibitionpreventing Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners fromallowing the plaintiffs in a ...
Defender criticized by Missouri Supreme Court for delay in man's trial
Dec 05, 2007; ... A man who has asserted his right to a speedy trial for more thana year could get the chance to walk free, after tough questions bystate Supreme Court judges Tuesday about delays in the case. Tracy McKee was charged in St. Louis Circuit Court in June 2006with tampering, property ...
Missouri Attorney General Nixon to file amicus brief in gun-rights case
Dec 05, 2007 ... Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said Tuesday that he wouldwork with attorneys general from other states to file a friend ofthe court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of anindividual's right to keep and bear arms. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a challenge ...
Seniors file suit in St. Louis-based federal court to prevent razing of Catholic-run apartments
Dec 05, 2007; ... Four elderly residents of the Catholic-run San Luis Apartments inthe Central West End are fighting the upcoming demolition of theirbuilding with a federal lawsuit. The suit, filed in the St. Louis-based federal court on Monday,accuses Catholic Charities of St. Louis of closing ...
Missouri Supreme Court considers whether inmate can sue his lawyer
Dec 06, 2007; ... The state Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether an inmateserving a life sentence can sue his attorney. The judges expressed a strong reluctance to rule as the trialcourt did, that the inmate's legal malpractice suit against attorneyJasper Edmundson Jr. should be dismissed ...
Temp workers allege racism in treatment at job site
Dec 06, 2007; ... Two African-American men filed suit against a Jackson Countycompany and the staffing agency that sent them there, claiming theywere effectively fired when they complained of racialdiscrimination. In a complaint filed Dec. 3, Ardist Hill and Samuel Grant saidthat Caucasians were ...
Gateway to a Cure leader gets fine, ban from fundraising in Missouri
Dec 06, 2007 ... A leader of the Gateway to a Cure charity will pay a fine and bepermanently barred from working in fundraising or running anonprofit group in Missouri under a court order filed Wednesday. Mary Bolling, a former director of the charity, will pay $5,000in restitution as part of the ...
Privacy trumps discovery request, Missouri Supreme Court judges say
Dec 06, 2007; ... Trial court shouldn't have granted access to employment records,they say. The state Supreme Court said Tuesday that a St. Louis Countyjudge erred in January when he ordered the handover of a nurseaide's personnel file. Circuit Judge Gary M. Gaertner Jr. granted the request, ...
Nation Briefs
Dec 06, 2007; ... Lincoln Electric jury awards $20.5 million in lawsuit Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc., the world's largest weldingequipment maker, and competing welding- rod makers must pay $20.5million for a worker's illness he claimed was caused by manganesefumes produced during welding. A ...
Commentary: The gifts of pronunciation and proofreading
Dec 06, 2007; ... Thanksgiving this year found me in a hospital in Lakeland, Fla.When I tell people that, their first reaction is "Oh, you poorthing." However, with delight I proceed to tell them the rest of thestory. My great-granddaughter was born Nov. 21, and I spent Thanksgivingat the hospital ...
Guantanamo rights divide U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 06, 2007; ... The Bush administration's handling of Guantanamo Bay inmatesdivided the U.S. Supreme Court, as the justices clashed over a lawthat bars the suspected terrorists from challenging their detentionin federal court. In an argument that ran 20 minutes beyond its allotted hour, ...
U.S. AG goes after Internet predators
Dec 06, 2007; ... A month into job, Michael Mukasey speaks on keeping kids safeonline Attorney General Michael Mukasey told law enforcement officialsWednesday that people at all levels of government, and beyond, mustwork together, without worrying about who gets the credit, to catchcriminals who ...
Kansas City to get $5.6M in settlement
Dec 10, 2007; ... The ongoing litigation in St. Louis County over cell-phone taxeshas produced the largest settlement yet in the case. AT&T, the largest of six cell-phone service providers negotiatingwith Missouri cities over back taxes, said it would pay $65.4million to settle the matter. The ...
Limbaugh tapped for federal judgeship
Dec 10, 2007; ... His father, also a judge, ready to step down if son confirmed Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr.'s nominationto the federal bench could require the end of his father's judicialcareer. President Bush on Thursday sent Limbaugh's name to the Senate ...
Coca-Cola battles Jackson County suit over sugar substitute
Dec 10, 2007; ... Fizzy streams of Diet Coke cascade from soda dispensers in movietheaters, restaurants and convenience stores across Missouri. But one Kansas City consumer says a sugar substitute found infountain Diet Coke -- but omitted from cans and bottles of thebeverage -- is harmful to ...
Kansas City Court Roundup: December 10, 2007
Dec 10, 2007; ... Thousands of Missouri borrowers are asking for monetary damagesand injunctive relief in a large class-action trial that began lastweek. The class, represented by attorneys from Walters Bender Strohbehn& Vaughn, claims that they were victims of an alleged predatorylending scheme ...
Commentary: Thanks, partner, for taking one for the team
Dec 10, 2007; ... I often write about my veteran partner. I don't think I've underrepresented the importance I place on hiscounsel and support. But this week, he is reaching new heights. About eight months ago I talked him into taking a murder case. I learned last night over a beer that he ...
Summer Shipp's family files wrongful death suit
Dec 10, 2007; ... The daughter of a Kansas City woman whose body was found inOctober almost three years after she disappeared claims her mother'semployer is partly to blame for her death. On Friday, Brandy Shipp sued the New York-based companies thatemployed her mother, Summer Shipp, for the purpose ...
Kansas City Legal Briefs: December 12, 2007
Dec 12, 2007 ... State official joins law firm's lobbying group A state economic development official who helped create theMissouri Quality Jobs Act has taken a lobbying job at SonnenscheinNath & Rosenthal. Brian Grace, the former director of policy and legislativeaffairs for the state ...
Dispute over a Peculiar rock quarry in Missouri garners raft of opinions
Dec 12, 2007; ... A ruling by a Cass County zoning board received a thoroughcritique by an appellate court panel. Each of the three judges that heard arguments in a dispute overland located near a Peculiar rock quarry weighed in with a separateopinion. And in the 2-1 decision handed down ...
Poll: Most Missourians like current way of picking judges
Dec 12, 2007; ... Justice at Stake samples voters, says 71% support Missouri Plan According to the poll released by Justice at Stake, Missouriansfor Fair and Impartial Courts and the Missouri Institute forJustice, 71 percent of likely state voters said they support thecurrent process, while 26 ...
Mistaken detention by Kansas City police officers prompts $1M suit
Dec 12, 2007; ... A Kansas City man claims police officers injured him one year agotoday with "mob-like" violence. In a federal lawsuit filed Monday, Wilson Smith alleged thatKansas City Police Department officers were looking for his brotherwhen they appended him and threw him from his front porch ....
Public defender yields to perks of private practice
Dec 15, 2007; ... Last summer, as the caseload crisis in the Missouri State PublicDefender's office worsened, St. Louis defender Jasman Lutz fieldeddozens of plea offers from prosecutors. It was nothing out of the ordinary in the beleaguered St. Louisarm of the public defender's office -- the offers ...
Judge Joseph Dandurand chosen for Misouri Court of Appeals' Western District
Dec 15, 2007; ... Another Kansas City-area circuit judge will join the bench at theMissouri Court of Appeals' Western District. Gov. Matt Blunt on Friday selected Judge Joseph Dandurand to fillone of two openings that remained at the appellate court. Dandurand, who is presiding judge of the 17th ...
Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: December 15, 2007
Dec 15, 2007; ... A Jackson County jury provided a Kansas City area emergencymedical service provider with a little relief on Friday. Following three weeks of testimony, Metropolitan AmbulanceServices Trust, or MAST, won a defense verdict in a case charging itwith the wrongful death of a Kansas City ...
Former Missouri state Rep. Cooper gets 15-month prison term
Dec 11, 2007; ... Former state Rep. Nathan Cooper was sentenced Monday to 15 monthsin federal prison on felony fraud charges that he steered temporarywork visas to clients in the trucking industry. Cooper, a Cape Girardeau Republican, also faces two years ofsupervised release when he is freed in ...
Shipp family sues mother's employer for wrongful death in Jackson County Circuit Court
Dec 11, 2007; ... Two months after the discovery of Summer Shipp's remains in aneastern Jackson County river, her daughter is holding the companiesthat employed her mother responsible. Shipp's daughter Brandy Shipp sued the New York-based marketingresearch businesses for wrongful death in Jackson ...
Woman pleads guilty in Missouri court to causing baby's death, will get treatment
Dec 11, 2007; ... A woman accused of drinking so much she caused her newborn'sdeath pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Monday. Sherri Lohnstein received the maximum, a seven-year sentence, butshe will undergo a 120-day alcohol treatment program. If shecompletes that successfully, she will ...
Panel announced for Clay County judge vacancy
Dec 11, 2007; ... One of three judges sitting on the Clay County Circuit bench isin line to get a promotion in the next two months. The 7th Circuit Judicial Commission on Friday named Clay Countyassociate judges Liz Davis and Donald Norris and family courtcommissioner Sherrill Roberts as candidates ...
Lawsuit accuses Kansas City attorneys of milking 'cash cow'
Dec 13, 2007; ... In a case described as an "embarrassment" to the legalprofession, three Kansas City lawyers are accused of swindling afamily out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees. And as a result, they're facing a lawsuit that could cost themtens of millions of ...
Missouri Supreme Court hears class suit over land use
Dec 13, 2007; ... O'Fallon facility damaged plaintiff's home, her attorney tellsstate Supreme Court. A lawyer for an O'Fallon quarry argued Wednesday that a homeownerwho blames the business for creating a nuisance hasn't met thecriteria for the class action she seeks. Lawrence F. Hartstein ...
Justices give federal judges more leeway in drug cases
Dec 11, 2007; ... Decisions follow dismissalof similar St. Louis case The U.S. Supreme Court handed down two decisions Monday thataccomplished what a St. Louis man's appeal of his federal drugsentence set out to do two years ago. Mario Claiborne was one of several defendants who petitioned ...
Man charged with threatening Adair County judge, police
Dec 13, 2007; ... A Kirksville man accused of threatening to "destroy" an AdairCounty associate circuit judge was indicted by the U.S. Attorney'soffice Wednesday on charges of mailing violent threats. Lonnie E. Sutton, 33, has no previous criminal record but is nowin federal custody on six counts ...
Missouri Supreme Court mulls verdict against Countrywide
Dec 14, 2007; ... The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments this week over a $6.1million verdict against a mortgage company for engaging in theunauthorized practice of law. Lewis Rice & Fingersh lawyer Richard Ahrens said the statute thatbars the unauthorized practice of law contains a two-year ...
Blunt to seek death penalty for rapists of young children
Dec 14, 2007; ... Gov. Matt Blunt called Thursday for changing state law to allowfor the death penalty in cases against rapists whose victims wereyoung children. Blunt made the announcement at a cyber crimes summit in JeffersonCity, where law enforcement officials gathered to discuss ways tobetter ...
Ballot language heads to Missouri court
Dec 18, 2007; ... The state auditor's office on Monday defended its estimate forthe cost of a proposed constitutional amendment barring governmentfrom using racial and gender factors. The legal wrangling has the amendment's sponsor and its criticsin court challenging whether the estimated cost and ...
Missouri Court of Appeals Western District gets third and final panel
Dec 18, 2007; ... The Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District is slowly movingcloser to being full-strength for the first time in nearly sixmonths. Operating short-handed since the departure of three judgesbeginning in June, the court is now about two months away fromfilling the last vacancy ...
Independence law firm wins effort to keep employee suit in arbitration
Dec 18, 2007; ... An Independence law firm facing allegations that it wrongly firedtwo employees for blowing the whistle on overcharging won an orderon Monday that will keep the case from being heard in open court. In the decision, Judge Roger Prokes granted a motion by HumphreyFarrington & McClain ...
Vote expected today on Missouri law firms Husch-Blackwell merger
Dec 19, 2007; ... The ballots have gone out at Blackwell Sanders and a vote on aprospective merger with Husch & Eppenberger is expected to befinished today, a Blackwell partner confirmed. The possible name of a combined firm still is up in the air andcould take the form of a coin toss, according to ...
Group releases 'Judicial Hellholes' report for 2007
Dec 19, 2007; ... Mo. Supreme Court a 'dishonorable mention;' Madison Co. fallsfrom list A Washington nonprofit took Madison County, Ill., off its list ofjudicial "hellholes" but handed the Missouri Supreme Court a'dishonorable mention' for two of its decisions this year. The American Tort ...
Missouri Supreme Court splits its decision on a murder conviction
Dec 19, 2007; ... Evidence too weak for dissenting judge. The Missouri Supreme Court narrowly split on its decision touphold the conviction and death sentence for a Cass County man whosecriminal case has gone to trial five times. At his most recent trial in March 2006, a jury again found ...
Missouri man allegedly denied adoption due to weight gets custody -- and a scolding
Dec 19, 2007; ... A Jackson County judge took the rare step Tuesday of publiclyreleasing a court order in an adoption case -- and excoriating theorder's beneficiary in the process. Judge John O'Malley said Gary Stocklaufer's highly public fightto adopt his foster son, Max, had harmed the legal ...
Missouri judge says previous attorney's conduct is no shield for Allstate
Dec 19, 2007; ... Attorneys for Allstate Insurance Co. said they will turn overcompany secrets on a bad-faith claim only if a protective order isgranted. During a hearing on Tuesday, Ronald Getchy, an attorney for theinsurer, told Jackson County Judge Michael Manners that the companyis firm in its ...
Missouri Supreme Court rules inmates can sue directly
Dec 19, 2007; ... An inmate can directly file a lawsuit under state law, the stateSupreme Court ruled Tuesday. A state inmate imprisoned in Jefferson City, Murlin Phillips,filed a lawsuit against his attorney, Jasper Edmundson Jr. of PoplarBluff, in 2004 for legal malpractice. Edmundson asked ...
Kansas City Legal Briefs: December 19, 2007
Dec 19, 2007; ... Western District overturns Porter kidnapping charges As Jackson County authorities prepare to prosecute a man formurdering his two children, a series of earlier kidnappingconvictions has run into trouble. The Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District on Tuesdayoverturned ...
Third time's a charm for a Missouri lawyer seeking judgeship
Dec 20, 2007; ... A quick turnaround by Gov. Matt Blunt has the Missouri Court ofAppeals' Western District back to a full bench for the first time insix months. It took Blunt less than two days to appoint Lathrop & Gageattorney Alok Ahuja to the appellate court on Wednesday. Ahuja, who was not ...
Missouri hog farm trial ends in defense verdict
Dec 20, 2007; ... A little more than a year after being on the losing end of amulti-million dollar verdict, two of the nation's leading porkproducers won round two on Wednesday. A Jackson County jury returned a defense verdict in favor ofPremium Standard Farms and ContiGroup Companies, who ...
Lawsuit filed over extension of Kansas City manager's contract
Dec 20, 2007; ... A lawsuit filed on Tuesday by Mayor Pro Tem Bill Skaggs seeks toreverse the Kansas City Council's passage of an ordinance last weekthat extended the contract of City Manager Wayne Cauthen. Skaggs, together with Kansas City resident K.B. Winterowd, suedthe city in Jackson County ...
Missouri backers of health-care petition may begin collecting signatures
Dec 20, 2007; ... Supporters of a ballot measure seeking to expand government-funded health care services -- with a big price tag -- have beencleared to begin collecting signatures. To put the issue before Missouri voters in November 2008, backersof the proposal must gather tens of thousands of ...
Nation Briefs
Dec 20, 2007; ... Bank of America awarded $347M in gas lawsuit Bank of America Corp. was awarded $347 million in a lawsuitoriginally filed by American Electric Power Co., the biggest U.S.producer of electricity from coal, over a gas financing dealinvolving Enron Corp. Bank of America, the ...
Missouri's Blackwell Sanders and Husch & Eppenberger announce merger
Dec 21, 2007; ... As-yet-unnamed marriage of equals would be among state's largestfirms Partners at Blackwell Sanders and Husch & Eppenberger voted thisweek to merge the two firms. The combination, expected to close in late January, will create a630-attorney firm -- second only to St ....
Not-so-brief brief lands Kansas City law firm in suit
Dec 21, 2007; ... An erroneous and lengthy brief was the downfall of a man'swrongful termination claim and is now the basis of his new lawsuitalleging negligence on the part of a Kansas City law firm. In a federal lawsuit filed in Kansas City on Monday, Doyle Clarkclaimed lawyers at McDowell, Rice, ...
Kansas City Legal Briefs: December 21, 2007
Dec 21, 2007 ... Grill named Sexy Single, raises money for charity Attorney and state representative Jason Grill made a specialcover of KC Magazine this month as one of the city's SexiestSingles. As a part of the event, he and 21 other attorneys,community activists, professional athletes, business ...