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4 days ago | 
milawyersweekly.com | Correy E. Stephenson
SUMMARY:6th Circuit affirms fee cut in Social Security benefits caseDistrict court found full 25% contingency fee excessiveEffective hourly rate deemed disproportionate to workFee reduction aligned with Gisbrecht reasonableness standardA district court acted within its discretion to deny an attorney’s fee award request for a prevailing Social Security claimant for the full 25 percent contingency fee agreement, a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
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5 days ago | 
molawyersmedia.com | Correy E. Stephenson
A plaintiff’s expert in an insurance dispute should be allowed to testify about the insurer’s handling of the claim, the Eastern District of the U.S. District Court of Missouri ruled on May 12, denying both the insurer’s motions to exclude testimony as well as summary judgment. A married couple, Michael and Karen Green had a policy with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company covering their home in Normandy.
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1 week ago | 
molawyersmedia.com | Correy E. Stephenson |Pat Murphy
The D.C. Circuit improperly invalidated approval for the construction of an 88-mile rail branch line linking an undeveloped oil field in Utah to the national railway system based on the U.S. Surface Transportation Board‘s failure to consider the environmental effects of upstream and downstream projects that are separate in time or place from the proposed infrastructure project, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. Click here to read the full text of the May 29 decision in .
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1 week ago | 
molawyersmedia.com | Correy E. Stephenson
An unjust enrichment claim was improperly dismissed where the defendants did not raise a statute of limitations affirmative defense in their answer to the complaint, the Southern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled on May 15. The Whitlow family acquired a farm in August of 1993. Harry “Hank” Whitlow negotiated the acquisition.
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1 week ago | 
molawyersmedia.com | Correy E. Stephenson
The owner of the plant where an independent contractor was injured is only liable for workers’ compensation benefits as a “statutory employer,” the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on May 8. Trenton Johnson suffered a serious injury at Exide Technologies’ plant in Kansas City. He was there to perform maintenance work on behalf of Concorp, Inc.
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2 weeks ago | 
molawyersmedia.com | Correy E. Stephenson
Where a genuine dispute existed as to whether a liquor distributor “demonstrated” goods for sale at its facility, creating a franchise relationship with a wine supplier, summary judgment in favor of the supplier on the distributor’s complaint alleging violations of the Missouri Franchise Act should be reversed, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on May 8.
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2 weeks ago | 
molawyersmedia.com | Correy E. Stephenson
The Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals in the renovated Old Post Office in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. (File photo)A Civil Investigative Demand (CID) issued by the state Attorney General (AG) was authorized under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA) and did not violate the constitutional rights of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region & Southwest Missouri (PPGR), the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled on May 6. On March 10, 2023, the AG sent CID No. 23-24 to PPGR.
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3 weeks ago | 
molawyersmedia.com | Correy E. Stephenson
A vehicle passes in front of the Missouri Supreme Court building on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Jefferson City, Mo.. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)To demonstrate entitlement to Second Injury Fund permanent total disability (PTD) benefits, a claimant must show she had at least one qualifying preexisting injury that qualifies under the statutory requirements, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on April 29, reversing an award. From 1980 to 2019, Diana Penney worked as a pharmacy technician.
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1 month ago | 
milawyersweekly.com | Correy E. Stephenson
While the failure to redeem property extinguished the owner’s rights related to the property, it didn’t render moot the issue of whether it was entitled to a surplus from the sale, a panel of the Court of Appeals has ruled. The court also recognized that a credit bid was permissible in a construction lien foreclosure pursuant to the Construction Lien Act, or CLA. “[I]t was not error for the trial court to allow a credit bid, or partial credit bid, during the foreclosure sale,” Judge Noah P.
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2 months ago | 
valawyersweekly.com | Correy E. Stephenson
A circuit court lacked jurisdiction to hear a church property dispute as the church had filed the matter with an ecclesiastical adjudicator before attempting to challenge the decision in civil court with a contrary position, a panel of the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled. Shalom Presbyterian Church of Washington attempted to separate itself from the Atlantic Korean American Presbytery, or AKAP. As part of the process, it sought to retain control over real property and assets.
