Commentary: Top 10 Missouri Lawyers Media stories of 2011 [Missouri Lawyers Media]
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1. Helping
When
The EF5 tornado had destroyed her home and her law office and her home. Butler, 72, was told 16 people on her block alone died, while she survived by hunkering down in her bathroom.
The May storm killed about 160 people and more than 1,000 people were injured, while leveling hundreds of homes and businesses.
In the weeks and months after the storm,
Not far from Butler's former office was the law office of Barnum, Pennick & Barton. It was also destroyed in the storm.
Barton and other lawyers, addressing Missouri Bar members in September, said some of the legal practice lessons learned from the tornado include electronically saving each document and storing them remotely as well as getting plenty of insurance.
Butler, who had planned to work through her 80s, said she has been thinking about retirement.
"It's the impossibility of getting the office back on track. I can't afford to hire a secretary. I don't have my forms" or client notes, she said, adding she is trying to get her office right again. "It's just too devastating."
Attorneys also rallied to help
To handle the spiked demand, Legal Aid of
Volunteer attorneys are still needed, said
In the months after the tornado, the problems have grown more serious in nature, says
More problems are now arising from contracts for deed and contractors, whereas the legal aid office was initially hit with many landlord-tenant issues, Rodriquez said.
In the contract for deed situation, the seller hands over the property deed only after all payments are made. For some clients, "once the home was damaged, the seller made the insurance claim and pocketed the money without repairing the home," she said, adding this could be completely legal.
"This leaves the buyer without any insurance money to repair the home, and so therefore, without a place to live," she said in an email.
2.
A
The defendants, however, have already appealed to the
Following a three-month trial in Judge
The verdict ranks third-highest in state history, behind two multibillion-dollar show verdicts in
The plaintiffs alleged lead emissions between 1986 and 1994 caused them to shed IQ points and to suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, asthma and other problems. The plaintiffs were all children when the lawsuits were filed in 2005; the three separate lawsuits were consolidated for trial.
A day after awarding a total of
At trial, the plaintiffs showed the jury document after document to prove the former smelter owners knew how damaging the emissions were to the community, and particularly to children in the community. The plaintiffs presented internal memos and letters acknowledging the company could never be in compliance with environmental regulations and rejecting a buyout plan because it would risk a class action lawsuit.
The defense, led by
At the end of November, lawyers for both sides appeared in courtrooms in
In an order, the judge said the punitive damages fell well within constitutionally acceptable limits, "particularly in view of the reprehensibility of the conduct at issue as found by the jury and amply supported by the evidence."
The case is Alexander et al. v.
3. Polsinelli's headquarters search ends
Polsinelli Shughart finally can finally move forward in its real estate plans, after working out a complex incentive package for building its new headquarters.
After giving up on a new office in the
But the arrangement comes with a price - tens of millions of dollars of incentives. Polsinelli,
As part of the city's deal,
The city will own the property and will lease it to VA West.
"We're glad to be here, although we originally didn't think we'd be here with an incentive package. You know the saga of this story," firm chairman
At the meeting, Welsh said the firm is taking on more square footage in the West Edge because of its design than it would have taken originally on the Plaza, adding additional costs.
Although it comes at a cost, city officials have praised the law firm for sticking to the
Conveniently, litigation between
All the good news for Polsinelli Shughart comes after its initial headquarters selection in the
4. Draper still seeking his voice on
Two months after he was named the newest member of the
Although he's one of the rare
"That really hits home when you're dealing with an issue, and you are the last word on it," Draper said. "It is, as the kids say, a little awesome."
As a former judge of the
In the meantime, Draper is still resolving his workload on the
2012 promises Draper a fuller chance to participate, but he's still considering how best to do that. Draper has, by design, asked few questions during oral arguments so far.
"I've been kind of quiet as the new guy, and I've done that on purpose," he said. "There are two philosophies on oral argument. One is that it's for the lawyers to put on their best argument, the other philosophy is that it's for the judges to ask their best questions. I think the truth is somewhere in between, and I'm trying to decide where my voice is amongst my colleagues."
Gov.
Before Draper became an appellate judge, he was an associate circuit and a circuit judge in
5.
The first trial, which began at the end of January, pitted 29 plaintiffs representing 37 Missouri hospitals against six cigarette manufacturers and their parent companies. The plaintiffs alleged they lost money on charity care for patients treated for smoking- related illnesses or complications between 1993 and 2010.
The suit was filed 12 years ago, at the same time the historic multistate tobacco settlement was signed.
The city of
In
Although the trial was expected to last a record six months, the plaintiffs rested their case earlier than expected, and the defendants put up three witnesses in three days. Closing arguments ended
"I feel the tobacco companies should be held responsible, but the plaintiffs didn't prove their case," juror
The hospitals alleged the defendants were liable under theories of negligence and product defect. They also alleged they were entitled to punitive damages. Lashly & Baer's
In June the plaintiffs agreed not to appeal the defense verdicts. In exchange, the defendants agreed to pay their own costs, which one defense lawyer said totaled millions of dollars.
The second tobacco trial, a class action lawsuit challenging
At stake in this trial was some
The plaintiffs are represented by a team of lawyers, including
No new trial date has been scheduled, and last month
The first case is
6. Judicial raises scheduled for 2012
The
In late 2010, the state
However, the citizens' commission's plan came with a caveat: The raises won't take effect until the 2013 fiscal year, which begins in July. Lawmakers have not yet begun crafting that budget, and it's not yet clear if they will appropriate the money to cover the raises.
Some lawmakers are opposed, citing the weak economy.
"I don't think the state of
But
The raises will be on the table at a time when some lawmakers are particularly unhappy with judges. Under a state constitutional provision, six appeals court judges were tasked this year with redrawing state legislative districts. Lawmakers say the resulting maps created unwieldy districts that divide many cities and towns or are split by rivers. (See story on page 1.)
The Missouri Bar has argued for years that judges' pay has fallen behind that of private practice lawyers, making it harder to attract candidates for the bench, especially in urban areas.
7. Child porn case plagues KC diocese
A set of disturbing images allegedly found on a
Bishop
The allegations prompted the plaintiffs in a 2008 settlement with the diocese to ask a
Just weeks after the lawsuit was filed in October,
Ratigan has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. He is currently set for trial in federal court in June. Meanwhile, a December hearing on Finn's misdemeanor charge was recently delayed until
A hearing in the civil case is also set for January.
Finn has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charge and says the church complied with the terms of the 2008 settlement. In statements on the diocese's website, he's pointed continued reforms taken throughout the year.
"With deep faith, we will weather this storm and never cease to fulfill our mission, even in moments of adversity," he said in October, after the criminal charge was made public.
Also this year, Finn reached an agreement with the
The civil case is
8. Sponsor to revive employment discrimination bill
The sponsor of a vetoed bill that would have changed employment discrimination law will file similar legislation in 2012 after hearing from Gov.
The bill, SB188, would have set caps on economic damages in discrimination and whistle-blower lawsuits, barred punitive awards against public entities, such as cities, and overturned a landmark
State Sen.
"If not, that's OK, but I think it's reasonable to have that discussion before moving forward," Lager said.
The bill had passed the
The bill was the top priority in 2011 for business groups such as the
"That's not who we are, and it stops here," Nixon said at the time of the veto.
9. Defenders ask for funding lift
Public defenders are awaiting word from Gov.
Missouri State Public Defender system officials presented two options to state Budget Director
One option would ask lawmakers to add 66 lawyers, plus support staff, over three years. That would cost about
At the same time, the system would seek an extra
State lawmakers, however, have been reluctant to expand any state agencies by hiring additional staff. The commission's second option, though more expensive, would keep the agency the same size by hiring private attorneys to take over about 27 percent of the system's total caseload, including conflict cases. That option would cost about
The commission also approved requests for two additional programs. A proposal to add at least one social worker to each of its offices would cost about
The defender system has been working for years to reduce its caseload. According to the agency's 2010 annual report, its 368 lawyers handled about 84,600 cases last year. The report says its attorneys don't have enough time to spend with clients and are in danger of violating their requirements to give adequate representation to each defendant.
Defenders also sought help from another source in December in a case before the
10. More
As
With a few exceptions, including ex parte orders of protection and small claims cases, all of the
About a dozen courts have expressed informal interest in e- filing, she said. The
Starting
Attorneys have to register for the state's e-filing system to access court documents through Case.net.
To set up an account, attorneys can go to the state judiciary's website, www.courts.mo.gov, and click on one of the links in the e- filing announcement. Registered attorneys will then be able to view documents online through Case.net. A help line is available from
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Verdicts & Settlements December 30, 2011: Slip-and-fall case against salon settles [Missouri Lawyers Media]
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