MLM Counties News. Notices. Need-to-know Information.

Less than a day after it won initial approval in the Missouri House, a resolution altering Missouri's Nonpartisan Court Plan was sent to the Senate on Thursday. (pictured at left) Rep. Stanley Cox's resolution passed 85-72, three votes more than the constitutionally needed amount to send legislation to the Senate. Among other things, Cox's resolution would increase the number of judicial nominees from three to four. Watch video of Cox talking about the court plan. Click here to see how lawyers in the House voted.

Tagged with: Appellate Judicial Commission Bryan Pratt Missouri Missouri House Nonpartisan Court Plan Rachel Bringer Stanley Cox

A former employee of Express Scripts claims that her boss, a subdivision president, sexually assaulted and harassed her. Cynthia Booker says that the company ignored her complaints and then retaliated against her. The lawsuit filed Friday in Jefferson Circuit Court in Kentucky alleges in graphic detail that Ronald Allen began to sexually harass Booker in June 2008 and pressured her to have an affair with him. Booker said she eventually relented and had an affair with Allen. Express Scripts, headquartered on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus, is one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the country.

Tagged with: CuraScript Infusion Pharmacy Cynthia Booker Express Scripts harassment Jefferson Circuit Court Kentucky Kurt A. Scharfenberger Louisville Maria Palumbo Ronald Allen sexual assault

A U.S. judge set aside the political corruption verdict that probably cost ex-Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens re-election and ordered an investigation into whether prosecutors' "shocking" conduct was criminal. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he had a duty to determine the "potential for obstruction of justice" by six federal prosecutors. The Justice Department abandoned the case after Attorney General Eric Holder discovered the prosecutors had withheld evidence that would have helped Stevens contest the charges he omitted $250,000 worth of gifts on his financial disclosure reports.

Tagged with: corruption Emmet Sullivan Eric Holder Ted Stevens

Tax-preparation company Jackson Hewitt faces a lawsuit in Kansas City over short-term loans that allow people get money due in their refund checks more quickly. A Kansas City woman filed suit in Jackson County Circuit Court last week against the company, arguing it violated state consumer-protection laws. The suit, which also seeks class action status, alleges that Jackson Hewitt should have registered with the state as a credit services organization.

Tagged with: Jackson County Circuit Court Jackson Hewitt refund-anticipation loan

The federal government and the city of Independence have reached a settlement aimed to force improvements to the city's sewer system. Under the proposed settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City last week, Independence agreed to make improvements to its sewer system to end the sewage overflows. The EPA estimates the cost of those improvements at $35 million.

Tagged with: Clean Water Act Environmental Protection Agency EPA Independence Missouri River Rock Creek Wastewater settlement

Guantanamo detainees, death-row prisoners and Katrina victims share a bond that a noted attorney thinks reflects a malaise at the heart of the nation's psyche. John Adams Project defense attorney Denny LeBoeuf, keynote speaker for Thursday's Death Penalty Symposium at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School, previewed the program Wednesday in delivering the Joseph Cohen Lecture. LeBoeuf summarizes her thesis this way: Guantanamo, the death penalty and Katrina are made from a single cloth woven by color, class and, in the case of "War on Terror" detainees, religion and ethnicity.

Tagged with: death penalty Denny LeBoeuf Guantanamo John Adams Project University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

Owners of an unusual commercial vehicle are entitled to lost profits for loss of use and replacement costs of the vehicle when it is damaged in a wreck, said the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Supreme Court affirmed a trial court's award of $201,000 to Gateway Foam Insulators Inc. for the loss of profits, replacement cost and environmental cleanup costs, associated with the wreck of its specialized foam insulation installation truck. The court only reversed an $11,723 award for loan interest.

Tagged with: Gateway Foam Insulators Jokerst Paving & Contracting Mark Kragel Missouri Supreme Court verdict

Deputy Scott Boan runs a metal detector over Stephen Jones at the ground floor entrance to the Jackson County Courthouse on Monday. While Jackson County has hefty security measures, some rural counties do not, prompting some lawmakers to favor letting prosecutors carry weapons. Earlier this year, a man whom Dent County Prosecutor Jessica Sparks had prosecuted on meth-related charges came into her courthouse office. Although Sparks said the confrontation didn't result in any injuries, she said she would have been in serious danger if a weapon was produced. Click here to continue reading.

Tagged with: carry conceal courthouse gun prosecutors security

AIG paid Bryan Cave about $20 million to monitor its finances as part of a 2004 deal with the federal government, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. James Cole, a partner in the firm's Washington office, attended top-level board-committee meetings and was responsible for offering general corporate oversight for the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the report. Bryan Cave Chairman Don Lents told Missouri Lawyers Weekly in a phone call Friday afternoon that "we're not in a position to comment."

Tagged with: AIG Bryan Cave James Cole SEC

Illinois attorney Rex Carr (pictured) has brought a five-year-old legal battle with his former law partners to St. Louis, demanding $6.9 million in fees in a petition filed last week in St. Louis Circuit Court. The action is the ninth lawsuit Carr has filed against Korein Tillery over millions in fees he says he is owed from several class actions the firm initiated under its prior incarnation, Carr Korein Tillery. These class actions include one Illinois case over an IBM pension dispute that netted a $325 million settlement. Click here to continue reading.

Tagged with: Carr Korein Tillery David R. Herndon fees IBM pension Rex Carr RICO St. Louis Circuit Court

A sparse crowd, including Cheryl Kelly of Thompson Coburn, gathered Monday outside the Jefferson County Courthouse to listen to trustee Steve Leasck read foreclosure notices on six Jefferson County subdivisions owned by developer American Heritage Homes. Great Southern Bank, the noteholder, bought each of the 285 lots. According to Jefferson County Recorder of Deeds records, American Heritage owed Great Southern Bank more than $21 million as of April 5, 2008, when it filed a fourth modification of its original construction loan agreement.

Tagged with: American Heritage Homes Barnhart Byrnes Mill Cedar Hill foreclosures Great Southern Bank Harter Farms Herculaneum High Ridge Jefferson County Parc Kimmswick Providence Silverstone Trails The Fountains at Moss Hollow Twin Pines