Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press

Southern District Coa Rules That Mechanic's Lien Was Not Deficient

The devil is in the details, so the saying goes, and that axiom proved true in a legal fight over a mechanic's lien, as the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, reversed a lower court's decision finding the lien's description deficient. Trendwest Resorts now must deal with the mechanic's lien filed by A-1 Insulation and Materials Co. for work it did on Trendwest's condominium construction project. The decision was not a total win for A-1, however, as the appellate court dismissed A-1...

Missouri Law Professors Dissect U.S. Supreme Court's Recent Term

Although the variety of issues decided by the U.S. Supreme Court make it difficult to put a label on the court's term, area academicians agree that liberals are happier with the court's decisions than are conservatives. Neil Richards, a law professor at Washington University, and Eric Claeys, David Sloss and Joel Goldstein, all law professors at Saint Louis University, talked about the big cases handed down during the 2004 term.

Aba Seeks Comment On Revised Model Code of Judicial Conduct

A complete preliminary draft of revisions to the American Bar Association Model Code of Judicial Conduct is posted on the ABA Web site with an invitation for comment. The code addresses issues of judicial integrity, impartiality and independence and the public's confidence that it can rely on those qualities in the men and women who preside over our courts, said Mark I. Harrison, chair of the ABA Joint Commission to Evaluate the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. These are complex issues, and w...

Jackson County Jury Attributes 70 Percent of Fault to Injured Party

A Jackson County jury found a man to be mostly at fault for the broken elbow he suffered when he tripped and fell at a swap shop. Jerry Elbassani demanded $285,000 before taking Nate Shurin Enterprises Inc., the operator of the swap shop, to trial. However, the jury awarded him only $48,000 of a $160,000 verdict.

Failure to Replace Stop Sign Costs Jackson Co. $150k

Jackson County must ante up $150,000 after failing to fix a downed stop sign that led to an accident at an intersection outside of Oak Grove. Douglas A. Hensley, Jr. suffered a fractured neck Sept. 1, 2002, when the truck he was a passenger in was struck by another vehicle at the intersection. The injury, which was not permanent, required surgery and the placement of screws in his neck.

Fatal Accident Leads to $250,000 Settlement

A quarter of a million dollars was awarded to the heirs of a woman who died from injuries she suffered in a car wreck. Odessa Sanders was traveling north on Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park, Kan., on May 25, 2003, on her way to teach a Sunday school class.