Kansas City Personal Injury Lawyer - Miscellaneous

Missouri Trial Lawyers Care (MoTLC) Needs Your Help To Provide Blankets To The Homeless

Brett Emison — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:15:42 GMT

Missouri Trial Lawyers Care (Mo-TLC) will assist in distributing coats, blankets, hats, gloves and food to the needy in Kansas City this winter. We need your help!

"Many men slept warmer Saturday night because of your generosity," said Lorraine Minor, Associate Executive Director of City Union Mission. "We found ourselves very short on blankets this year so your efforts made a huge difference."

Mo-TLC is the charitable arm of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys committed to making monetary donations and providing volunteer services to charitable causes across the state of Missouri. Mo-TLC is the only organization of its kind to partner with the American Red Cross to provide free legal services to victims of natural disasters.

You can learn more about Mo-TLC and find contact information to help at the Mo-TLC Facebook Page.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Happy Thanksgiving

Brett Emison — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:12:40 GMT

"It's literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast."

-- W.J. Cameron

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Tort Reform: Insurance Lobbyists Want To Take Away Your Rights

Brett Emison — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:51:52 GMT

According to Scientific American, preventable medical mistakes kill 200,000 American each year. Despite all those deaths, insurance company lobbyists want you to give up your right to a jury trial if one of these accidents happens to you or your family member.

The U.S. Constitution and State Constitutions grant you the right to a trial by jury.

Article III, Section 2: Trial by Jury, Original Jurisdiction, Jury Trials

7th Amendment: Trial by Jury in Civil Cases

In Suits at common law. . ., the right of trial by jury shall be preserved. . . .

Why would anyone give up his or her constitutional right to a trial by a jury of peers?

Why would we give up a fundamental constitutional right in order to protect negligence that kills 200,000 people per year? Do insurance lobbyists have us so scared that we would give up a fundamental right deemed so important that it was included in the original Bill of Rights?

What are we really scared of? Some facts from allbusiness.com:

Average liability premiums across internists, general surgeons and OB/GYNs are nearly identical for states with or without caps on medical malpractice damages

Average liability premiums for OB/GYNs are nearly identical for states with or without caps

Average liability premiums for general surgeons are nearly 10% higher in states with caps

Average liability premiums for internal medicine are nearly 10% higher in states with caps

"Malpractice insurers promised tort law changes would lower premiums, yet it has not happened."

If caps on damages and keeping valid lawsuits out of court do not reduce malpractice rates for doctors or the premiums that you and I pay for health insurance, what does it do? According to the Columbia Tribune and Kansas City Business Journal, it lines the pockets of insurance companies.

Family health care premiums for employer-provided insurance in Missouri will have risen an estimated 3.6 times faster than workers' earning from 2000 through 2009, according to a Families USA report.

Family health insurance premiums for employer-provided coverage will have risen 82.5 percent in the period, whereas median earnings have risen 22.8 percent. . . .

***

Families USA said that higher insurance premiums have been coupled with "thinner" coverage and higher deductibles, copayments and co-insurance.

Pollack blamed rising premiums on "wasteful heath care spending, an almost-unregulated insurance market, a dramatic drop in competition in the insurance market and costs shifted from the uninsured to the insured, termed a 'hidden health tax.'"

In Missouri, those with employer-provided health care are paying more money for less coverage. . . even though Missouri passed dramatic tort reforms in 2005. According to the Columbia Tribune, after the tort reform passed, medical malpractice insurance companies increased their profits of couple percent to nearly a 25 percent return on investment.

While the insurance companies make money, malpractice victims will not see their right to a day in court.

"Effectively, the courthouse door has been slammed in their face by the non-economic cap put on in Missouri," [said a Missouri attorney] who represents plaintiffs in medical malpractice litigation. "What was pushed as stopping the windfall for the plaintiffs has turned into a windfall for the insurance companies."

***

With the cap in place on economic damages, little can be recovered when the plaintiffs are children, nonworking mothers, the retired and the disabled because there are no wages or long-term earnings involved in the computation of what can be recovered.

In Missouri, tort reformers have placed almost no value on the life of children, stay-at-home moms, the elderly and the disabled. Isn't the life of a stay-at-home mom worth as much (if not more) as a corporate executive? In a Missouri medical case, it is not. What's wrong with this country when legislators bow down to lobbyists at the expense of mothers, children, the disabled and the elderly.

Unfortunately for one insurance lobbyist, he learned his lesson too little too late. Frank Cornelius wrote a piece entitled, Crushed By My Own Reform, which was published in several major newspapers including the New York Times and the Dallas Morning News. My citation comes from the Dallas Morning News, October 10, 1994, Monday, HOME FINAL EDITION, at p. 13A.

In 1975, I helped persuade the Indiana Legislature to pass what was acclaimed as a pioneering reform of the medical malpractice laws: a $500,000 cap on damage awards, and elimination of all damages for pain and suffering.

I argued successfully that such limits would reduce health-care costs and encourage physicians to stay in Indiana _ the same sort of arguments that now underpin the medical industry's call for national malpractice reform.

Today, from my wheelchair, I rue that accomplishment.

***

The cost of this cascading series of medical debacles is painful to tally:

. I am confined to a wheelchair and need a respirator to keep breathing. I have not been able to work.

. I have continuous physical pain in my legs and feet, prompting my doctor to hook me up to an apparatus that drips morphine. My pain used to rate a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. Now it's about a 4.

. Twice, I have received last rites from my church.

. My marriage is ending, and the emotional fallout on our five children has been difficult to witness, to say the least.

. At the age of 49, I am told that I have less than two years to live.

My medical expenses and lost wages, projected to retirement age if I should live that long, come to more than $ 5 million. Claims against the hospital and physical therapist have been settled for a total of $500,000 _ the limit on damages for a single incident of malpractice.

***

The kicker, of course, is that I fought to enact the very law that limits my compensation. All my suffering might have been worthwhile, on some cosmic scale, if the law had accomplished its stated purpose. But it hasn't.

Indiana's health care costs increased 139.4 percent from 1980 to 1990 _ just about the national average. The state ranked 32nd in per-capita health care spending in 1990 _ the same as in 1980.

It's understandable that the damage cap has done nothing to curb health-care spending; the two have almost nothing to do with each other.

***

The prospect that these reforms" will be enacted is frightening. Make no mistake, damage caps are arbitrary, wholly disregarding the nature of the injury and the pain experienced by the plaintiff.

They make it harder to seek and recover compensation for medical injuries; extend unwarranted special protection to the medical industry; and remove the only effective deterrent to negligent medical care, since the medical profession has never done an effective job of disciplining negligent doctors.

Medical negligence cannot be reduced simply by restricting consumers' legal rights. That will happen only when the medical industry begins to effectively police its own.

I don't expect to live to see that day.

We should not make the mistake that Frank Cornelius made. We should not give up our constitutional rights to protect ourselves from some imaginary boogeyman. Stand up for your rights. Protect yourself and your family.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Missouri Trial Lawyers Support Salvation Army Kettle Brigade

Brett Emison — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:36:49 GMT

Missouri Trial Lawyers Care (Mo-TLC) volunteers are supporting the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign and will be ringing bells on Friday, December 4, 2009.

On Friday, Dec. 4, 2009, Missouri Trial Lawyers Care volunteers armed with bells will take to the streets all over the state to raise money for the Salvation Army Red Kettle Christmas Campaign.

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The MATA [Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys] Bell Ringer initiative is an effort by Missouri trial attorneys to join the fight against poverty by raising money and awareness throughout the legal community. It is an opportunity to give back to the community an celebrate the sentiments of the Holiday spirit. As trial attorneys, we are especially proud of our history and dedication to public service.

The Red Kettle Campaign -- begun in 1891 -- helps provide food, toys and clothing to over 6 million people during the Christmas season and helps more than 34 million Americans recovering from all kinds of personal disasters nationwide. In fact, many families receive aid over a period of months after the Christmas season as well; people struggling with difficult family, emotional, or employment problems.

Join with Missouri's trial lawyers to support this worthy organization.

Lawyers wishing to participate as a bell ringer on December 4, can find more information at the Mo-TLC group page on Facebook.

You can support the Salvation Army by giving directly at their web site.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Teenager Injured In Tennessee Train Accident

Brett Emison — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:00:45 GMT

Chattanooga, Tennessee's ABC affiliate is reporting that a teenager was injured during a Tennessee railroad crossing accident.

An 18-year-old man is recovering at Erlanger today after a train collided with his car.

Polk County authorities tell us the accident happened just after 1:30 this morning along Highway 411 near York Road. Dispatchers tell NewsChannel9 they received a call from CSX that they had hit a vehicle.

The teen, who's been identified as Brandon Dabbs, was injured in the collision and had to be flown to Erlanger. No word yet on his exact condition.

Train accidents can have many causes and have devastating effects on motor vehicles. Train collisions happen far too often. Just recently, two people were killed in an Amsterdam, Missouri train accident and there were critcal injuries stemming from a Texas train accident and Mississippi train accident. To make matter worse, Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) railroad was recently found to have destroyed evidence in an attept to cover up its role in four deaths from a Minnesota train accident.

Railroad companies are responsible for ensuring that train crossing warning systems are active and in working order. Learn more a railroad safety at our web site.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

MoTLC -- Missouri Trial Lawyers Care

Brett Emison — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:53:53 GMT

MoTLC is Passionately Pink for the Cure! Missouri Trial Lawyers Care is upping the ante with several Breast Cancer Awareness Month activities. MoTLC will make a donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in honor of every woman member of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys. In addition, MoTLC is asking for your help to attend gatherings during the month of October. MATA's St. Louis gathering is October 14 at J. Buck's at 101 South Hanley Road from 4:30 - 6:30.. MATA's Kansas City gathering will take place on October 21 at The Cashew at 2000 Grand Blvd from 4:30 - 6:30.

Breast cancer will touch nearly every family. With three breast cancer survivors in my own family, I encourage you all to join with me and the rest of Langdon & Emison to do what you can to support the fine efforts of those working to erradicate this disease.

Join MoTLC or find out more HERE.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Langdon & Emison Hires 3 New Attorneys

Brett Emison — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:57:00 GMT

Langdon & Emison has recently hired three new attorneys to join Bob Langdon, Kent Emison and Brett Emison:

Adam Graves joins us having been a partner at his previous firm. Adam has handled product liability cases on a nationwide basis as well as complex personal injury cases. Adam will work on product defect and other catastrophic injury cases.

Phyllis Norman managed complex class action cases at her previous lawfirm. Phyllis will continue working on class action litigation and mass tort cases, as well as other complex product defect and personal injury cases.

David Brose was a partner at a major Kansas City area law firm and has extensive experience in product liability and other complex litigation. David will work on product defect cases and other catastrophic injury cases.

Connect with Brett Emison on LinkedIn.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Bob Langdon Receives Awards

Brett Emison — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:57:02 GMT

Langdon & Emison congratulates Bob Langdon on receiving the Thomas Strong Trial Attorney Award and recognition as a Dean of the Trial Bar.

The Thomas Strong Trial Attorney Award is given by the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys to the "trial lawyer who, in the preceding year(s), has exemplified and put into practice the philosophy of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys through his or her representation of victims and consumers in the courtrooms of Missouri."

The award is presented to the Missouri Attorney who best exemplifies the following:

Professionalism
Ethics
Character
Courtroom Success.

The Dean of the Trial Bar Award is presented by the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (KCMBA) to attorneys who have demonstrated superb litigation skills and professional demeanor and who are viewed as exemplary by their peers.

Bob is a founding partner of Langdon & Emison, with offices in Chicago, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri and near Kansas City, Missouri.

Bob has more than 35 years of experience trying complex personal injury litigation, including cases involving automotive product defects, railroad crossing and trucking litigation, aftermarket vehicle modification defects, construction injuries, commercial litigation and mass torts. Bob has received outstanding results for his clients across the country with verdicts and settlements totaling more than half a billion dollars.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Teen Found Dead in Man's Closet

Jenny Albano — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:17:57 GMT

Friday night a teens body was found in Jason Shenfeld's closet by his father. Apparently the son was acting strange and kept locking his door so his father checked the room and found the body of an 18 year old girl, Amanda Buckley.

Shenfeld told his father that the girl had overdosed on drugs and didn't know what to do. But investigators found duct tape in her hair, bruises on her body, and evidence of rape. The autopsy report said that teen was strangled, beaten, and sexually abused.

Shenfeld had just recently been released from jail in February after being accused of sexually assaulting to women. Charges ended up being dropped because of "conflicts in evidence". Now Shenfeld has been jailed for suspicion of murder and sexual battery.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

Attorney Sued for Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Staff Writer — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:08:44 GMT

A local Kansas City family law attorney was sued for breach of fiduciary duty by an alleged former client. A Jackson County, Missouri jury returned a verdict of $3 Million dollars against the attorney and his law firm for the breach of duty.

The Plaintiff alleged that the attorney represented both her (biological mother) and the adoptive parents. The Plaintiff alleged that the attorney told her she could stop the adoption process at any time. Prior to the finalization of the adoption process, the Plaintiff (biological mother) wanted to stop the process, but the attorney advised her it was too late. The Plaintiff argued that when she raised her objection it was not too late. You can read more about this in the Kansas City Star.

This case represents the dilemmas that face an attorney when they try and represent two different parties with conflicting interests. It is always best for an attorney to make sure that different parties have separate counsel to avoid this conflict of interest situation. I believe the jury properly awarded the Plaintiff monetary damages in light of this inherent conflict. Hopefully, this case will prevent this attorney (and other like him) from engaging in this kind of activity.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer