News

July 24, 2009

Federal Judge Gives Lawsuit Against City of Arnold the Red Light

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the city of Arnold’s use of red-light traffic cameras. But opponents of the traffic cameras haven’t given up yet.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas C. Mummert III, of the Eastern District of Missouri, granted the motion by the city and co-defendant American Traffic Solutions, or ATS, for summary judgment on the grounds that the city’s ordinance governing red-light cameras is civil in nature. The ordinance would have had to be criminal in nature for the plaintiffs to be able to pursue their due process claims.

July 9, 2009

Cole County Circuit Judge Says ALJs to Stay on the Job until Trial

A Cole County circuit judge has issued a preliminary injunction that prevents three administrative law judges from being forced out.

Henry Herschel, Matthew Murphy and John Tackes sued in June to prevent Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration from dismissing them. While Nixon said they were let go for budgetary reasons, an attorney for the judges says the move violated statutes that lay out a specific dismissal process.

Judge Jon Beetem issued a temporary restraining order late last month, a move that prevented the judges from leaving their positions for 15 days.

June 29, 2009

Cole County Judge Halts ALJ Firings for 15 Days

Three administrative law judges contesting their dismissals will get at least a couple more weeks to continue at their posts.

Jon Beetem, a Cole County associate circuit judge, issued a temporary restraining order against a bid by the state to lay off three administrative law judges. Without such an order, the three men – Henry Herschel, Matthew Murphy and John A. Tackes – would have been forced to leave their positions by June 30.

“The Court finds that plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm in the form of the loss their appointments as Administrative Law Judges in the absence of this order,” Beetem wrote in the two-page order issued Monday.

June 26, 2009

Cole County Judge Considers Keeping ALJs in their Jobs

A Cole County judge said he will decide by Tuesday whether to keep three dismissed administrative law judges on the job.

Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration dismissed four administrative law judges earlier this month, while the position of a fifth judge who retired will not be filled. The judges are supposed to leave their posts by June 30 – the end of fiscal year 2009.

Three of the judges – Henry Herschel, Matthew Murphy and John Tackes – sued earlier this week, arguing that state law protects them from being dismissed without a formal process.

June 24, 2009

Lawsuit Against Missouri Governor’s Administration Alleges ALJ Cuts were Illegal

Three dismissed administrative law judges have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration, arguing that the move was illegal under state statute.

The three former judges – Henry Herschel, Matthew Murphy and John A. Tackes – are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court. The petition alleges that Nixon’s administration and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations unlawfully dismissed the judges.

Missouri Lawyers Media reported last week that the three plaintiffs and a fourth ALJ, June Doughty, would be dismissed effective July 1. In addition, the position of a retiring judge won’t be filled. Neither Doughty nor the retiring judge, Ron Harris, are parties to the lawsuit.

February 5, 2009

Judgment of $23.3 Million with Interest Entered for SP

Federal District Judge Carol E. Jackson signed the order Tuesday for Structural Polymer Group to collect $23,306,462 plus $3,160.74 daily interest since Dec. 7, 2008, after winning a breach of contract verdict against Zoltek.

Structural Polymer was represented through the trial and appeal process by Tom Walsh, Jim Bennett, Ed Dowd and Lou Bonacorsi.

July 10, 2008

King of Beers Sees Red Over InBev’s Hostile Intentions

The legal mess surrounding InBev’s stalled acquisition of Anheuser-Busch now looks like the floor of a frat house basement after an all-night kegger.

Trying to stave off a hostile bid by the Belgium-based brewer, the St. Louis-based beer maker is now playing the red card in a civil lawsuit filed Monday against InBev on A-B’s home turf in the Eastern District of Missouri.

A-B and its signature brand, Budweiser, have been busy touting their all-American heritage in recent weeks as InBev has sought shareholder approval for a deal by rolling out their own ad campaign touting the company’s international credentials.

June 26, 2008

Riverfront Times Names Bennett Best Lawyer of 2008

Jim Bennett has made a name for himself defending some of this town’s more notorious folk. In 2004 the attorney asked the Missouri Supreme Court to toss out drunk-driving charges against St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little. (The court refused, but Little was eventually acquitted of the charges following a jury trial.) In 2006 Bennett represented former American Equity Mortgage cofounder Ray Vinson in his nasty divorce from his wife and business partner, Deanna Vinson. (Despite courtroom testimony about Vinson’s aberrant behavior, Bennett convinced the judge to award Vinson 32 percent of the couple’s multimillion-dollar estate and receive another $16 million to walk away from the company.) But Bennett’s biggest claim to fame ought to be that he single-handedly sent former Metro president Larry Salci packing with a one-way ticket out of town last fall.

March 24, 2008

Comerford Named to Missouri Veterans’ Commission

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt appointed several St. Louis area residents to positions on state boards, commissions and councils, the governor’s office announced Monday.

John Comerford, of St. Louis, was named to the Missouri Veterans’ Commission for a term ending Nov. 2, 2011. Comerford is an attorney at Dowd Bennett LLP and has served in the U.S. Navy.

March 7, 2008

Taxpayers’ Costs Mount in Fight Over State E-mails

The continuing battle over how Gov. Matt Blunt’s office has handled government e-mails is going to be costly for Missouri taxpayers.

This week, the governor hired three members of a St. Louis law firm – at $210 to $370 per hour – to defend him against a lawsuit filed by a fired state lawyer, Scott Eckersley.

Public money also is paying for private lawyers hired by four current or former aides to Blunt who are defendants in the lawsuit, state records show.