The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Friday affirmed a $500,000 civil verdict against a man whose underlying criminal charge was thrown out earlier this month. Matthew Davis pleaded guilty in May 2005 to abandoning his girlfriend’s body in ...

Tagged with: Edith Messina fraud upon the court Matthew Davis Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

The Appellate Judicial Commission said Thursday that 47 lawyers applied for three vacancies on the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District. Thirteen of these applicants are women, and 34 are men. Three are minority applicants and 44 non-minority applicants. There ...

Tagged with: Appellate Judicial Commission Joseph Dandurand Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Ron Holliger Spinden

Municipal judges in Kansas City are part of the state’s 16th Judicial Circuit, but their paychecks come from the city. They are selected through a system very similar to Missouri’s Nonpartisan Court Plan, but the Kansas City Council makes the ...

Tagged with: Clay County Kansas City Council Melissa Howard Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Missouri Human Rights Act municipal judges Nonpartisan Court Plan Patricia Cohen Platte County Vic Howard

Almost six years after a fiery crash on Interstate 70 killed a state trooper and severely injured another driver, lawyers for the victims asked the Missouri Supreme Court to let them take another crack at the maker of the car ...

Tagged with: Ann Covington Edward "Chip" Robertson Ford Motor Co. Michael Newton Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Missouri Supreme Court

One word. Well into a scathing opinion that threw out the guilty plea of a man accused of abandoning his girlfriend’s corpse, Jackson County Judge Edith Messina took a moment to marvel at how what she called a “fraud upon ...

Tagged with: Edith Messina fraud upon the trial court Jackson County Jim Kanatzer John Turner Matthew Davis Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Patrick Peters Peters & Peters

A Missouri appeals court denied a legal challenge to November's casino ballot measure - three months after voters approved it. The ballot item, known as Proposition A, was challenged in court in August 2008. The trial court dismissed some of the allegations and ruled against the challengers' other claims. On Tuesday, the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District - which didn't hear the case until 16 days after the Nov. 4 election - affirmed those decisions. Attorney Robert Buckley, pictured, headed the appeal.

Tagged with: casino ballot David Knight James Smart Jr. Joseph Ellis loss limits Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Proposition A Ray Salva Sugar Creek

The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District affirmed a circuit court’s guilty finding Tuesday in the case of a Kansas City man serving life in prison without parole for a 2004 shooting death. The appeal stemmed from a 2006 jury ...

Tagged with: Jackson County Jon Gray Kansas City life in prison Missouri Court of Appeals Western District shooting death

The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesday upheld a $1 million jury verdict from 2007, clarifying a novel question of bad-faith tort law along the way. Quinlock Shobe won $500,000 in actual damages and another $500,000 in punitives ...

Tagged with: Allstate Insurance Co. bad-faith tort law jury verdict Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

Financial downgrade; agent’s duty   WD69587 Zubres Radiology, et al., Appellants, v. Providers Insurance Consultants, et al.,Respondents Appeal From: Cole County Circuit Court, Judge Jon R. Beetem Handdown Date: 1/20/2009 Opinion Author: Judge Victor C. Howard Opinion Vote: Judges Ellis ...

Tagged with: agent's duty Financial downgrade Insurance Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

A bartender ordered by a judge to pay a $100 fine for allowing smoking in a Kansas City bar is taking her challenge to the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District. In a statement from Jonathan Sternberg, attorney for the ...

Tagged with: bar bartender Clean Indoor Air Act Georgia Carlson JC's Sports Bar Jonathan Sternberg Kansas City Missouri Court of Appeals Western District smoking smoking ban

Attorney General Chris Koster recruited two long-time litigators to take top positions in his office. St. Louis attorney Joel Poole will serve as chief counsel of the litigation division, and Jack McManus, a member of the office since 2007, will ...

Tagged with: attorney general Chris Koster Holloran White & Schwartz Jack McManus Joel Poole Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Polsinelli