Columbia attorney Mark D. Pfeiffer has been appointed to fill the first of three vacancies on the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District. The appointment is Gov. Jay Nixon's first to an appellate court since taking office in January. Pfeiffer will fill one of three openings on the Western District. He officially takes the spot of Judge Ron Holliger, who left the bench in January to go work as general counsel for Attorney General Chris Koster. Pfeiffer's name was submitted to Nixon in March, along with 17th Judicial Circuit Judge Jacqueline A. Cook and Cynthia L. Reams Martin. The governor had until Tuesday to make his selection.

Tagged with: Jay Nixon Mark Pfeiffer Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

An appeals court has reinstated a $17.3 million jury verdict that a Jackson County trial judge had thrown out after trial. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District said Tuesday that the class of about 314,000 plaintiffs had established a ...

Tagged with: American Family Mutual Insurance Co. class action Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

Class members reached a $15 million settlement with two insurance companies and one insurance administrator over the sale of long-term care insurance benefits. The settlement marks the end of more than six years of litigation against American Heritage Life Insurance ...

Tagged with: $15 million American Heritage Life Insurance Co. Carol Chalgren Chalgren class action lawsuit Eric Chalgren Gregory Leyh Jackson County Circuit Court Michael Manners Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co. settlement Wakely and Associates Inc.

Medical information  is a private affair, until a patient sues over an  injury.  At that point, medical records and even the statements of treating physicians become relevant. On Thursday, the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District heard a case that ...

Tagged with: ex parte HIPAA Marco Roldan Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Shaffer Lombardo Shurin

The Appellate Judicial Commission on Friday named the first of three panels of candidates for openings on the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District. The panel consists of Judge Jacqueline A. Cook, Cynthia L. Reams Martin and Mark D. Pfeiffer. ...

Tagged with: Appellate Judicial Commission Cynthia L. Reams Martin Jacqueline A. Cook Jay Nixon Mark D. Pfeiffer Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan

Missouri’s public defenders are used to arguing to the appellate courts on behalf of clients. On Thursday, they used their powers of persuasion on behalf of the public defender system itself. Attorneys for the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office appeared ...

Tagged with: case limit Missouri Court of Appeals Western District public defender Public Defender Commission Shook Hardy & Bacon

The seemingly routine procedure of referring a bill to committee could have a sizable impact on the fate of legislation altering the state’s public defender system. Most notably, Sen. Jack Goodman’s bill codifies an administrative rule allowing the Public Defender ...

Tagged with: bill committee Jack Goodman Jolie Justus leglislation Missouri Court of Appeals Western District public defender Public Defender Commission Ron Richard

The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesday denied an attempt to remove thousands of plaintiffs from a $36.3 million class action lawsuit settled in 2007. The appeals court said a Jackson County Circuit judge no longer had jurisdiction ...

Tagged with: class action First Horizon Home Loan Corp. Jackson County Circuit McGuire Mortgage Co. Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

A creditor is not entitled to have a foreclosure sale set aside after it made a mistake during a foreclosure sale, a Missouri Appeals Court said last week. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled that Vestin Realty Mortgage ...

Tagged with: creditor foreclosure Foreclosure Sale foreclosures Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Monterrey Apartments Oklahoma Vestin Realty Mortgage

How many times is too many to be nominated for a spot on a Missouri appellate court? A group that criticizes the state’s method of selecting judges issued a statement Wednesday, calling for the Appellate Judicial Commission to send the ...

Tagged with: Appellate Judicial Commission Better Courts for Missouri James Harris Jay Nixon Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts

An appeals court on Tuesday reversed the driving-while-intoxicated charge against a driver who killed a Kansas City teen in November 2006. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District said there was plenty of evidence to convict Mark A. Royal on ...

Tagged with: car wreck DWI J.D. Williamson Missouri Court of Appeals Western District