Employer – Employee: Non-Compete Agreement - Time Restriction - Attorney’s Fees (access required)

Paradise v. Midwest Asphalt Coatings, Inc. (MLW No. 60373/Case No. WD70944 - 7 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Newton, C.J.)
Where a trial court found that a non-compete agreement was valid and that the employer had a protectable interest in its customer list, the court erroneously considered whether the employee actually solicited customers and [...]

Criminal Law: Drug Possession - Sufficiency Of Evidence - Exigent Circumstances  (access required)

State v. Warren (MLW No. 60374/Case No. WD70671 - 11 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Welsh, J.)
(1)Where officers entered defendant’s home in response to an activated burglar alarm and saw marijuana and drug paraphernalia throughout the home, including readily accessible areas of the kitchen and bedroom, and the defendant did not act surprised [...]

Domestic Relations: Marital Property - Disability Pension - Failure To Divide  (access required)

Nardini v. Nardini (MLW No. 60371/Case No. SD29692 - 10 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Lynch, P.J.)
Where a trial court in a dissolution failed to divide all of the parties’ property, including the husband’s disability pension, the judgment was not final, so an appeal must be dismissed. 
Appeal is dismissed.
Nardini v. Nardini (MLW No. [...]

Criminal Law: Traffic Stop - Pat-Down Search - Probable Cause (access required)

State v. Gambow (MLW No. 60370/Case No. SD30076 - 4 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Scott, C.J.)
Where an officer stopped a car for speeding and after smelling marijuana conducted a pat-down search of a passenger, the officer had probable cause for the traffic stop and consent for a vehicle search, but the officer [...]

Criminal Law: Post-Conviction Relief - Effectiveness Of Counsel - Pro Se Claims (access required)

Hardy v. State (MLW No. 60372/Case No. SD29650 - 6 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Scott, C.J.)
Where a defendant in a first-degree murder case claimed his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach a witness with inconsistencies from his testimony about the location of the victim when shot, the motion court properly [...]

Real Property: Tax Sale - Right To Redeem - Notice  (access required)

Drake Development & Construction v. Jacob Holdings, Inc. (MLW No. 60369Case No. SD29582 - 6 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Sweeney, Sp. J.)
Where a notice informing a landowner that a property would be sold at a tax sale failed to inform the owner of when the right to redeem expired, the notice did [...]

Criminal Law: Post-Conviction Relief - Escape Rule (access required)

Stevens v. State (MLW No. 60368/Case No. SD29627 - 5 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Bates, J.)
Where a defendant failed to appear for a pretrial conference and a jury trial requiring two warrants to be issued for his arrest and then he went missing for almost a year while on probation, the escape [...]

Driver’s License: DWI - Probable Cause - Operated Vehicle (access required)

Bouillon v. Director (MLW No. 60362/Case No. ED93129 - 8 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Sullivan, J.)
Where an officer arrested a man standing beside his car at a gas station after a call from a witness reporting the man to be drunk and the officer observed the man’s bloodshot eyes, swaying, mumbled speech [...]

Criminal Law: Sentencing - Persistent Offender (access required)

State v. Williams (MLW No. 60367/Case No. ED92466 - 3 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Mooney, J.)
Where the state did not show that a defendant qualified as a persistent offender for sentencing purposes, the trial court erred in entering a written judgment reflecting persistent offender status, and the judgment must be modified to [...]

Criminal Law: Post-Conviction Relief - Timeliness (access required)

Belfield v. State (MLW No. 60361/Case No. ED93559 - 4 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Odenwald, P.J.)
Where a defendant argued that he filed a timely but unverified motion for post-conviction relief, his allegations were not supported by the record, and the court properly denied the motion.
Judgment is affirmed.
Belfield v. State (MLW No. 60361/Case [...]

  • Billing Rates 2010 (access required)
    The third annual Billing Rates list includes the rates of 106 Missouri attorneys and 28 staff members.

  • In this issue of Missouri Lawyers Weekly

    Billing Hours 2010
    The third annual Billing Rates list includes the rates of 106 Missouri attorneys and 28 staff members.

    Holding the line in a down economy
    Stinson Morrison Hecker’s leaders bore in mind the state of the economy when the time came to set 2009 billing rates.

    Hourly billing soldiers on
    It’s not time to say goodbye to the billable hour.

    Small plaintiffs firms place high value on time
    When plaintiffs attorneys justify their contingency fees by referring to their hourly rates, they often consider the rates charged by Missouri’s largest law firms as a benchmark.


    Click here for more stories.>>>

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    Missouri Lawyers Weekly, which was founded in 1987, reports on legal decisions issued by all the state and federal courts in Missouri, as well as changes to court rules, verdict and settlement reports, bar-discipline notices and all other news vital to attorneys and legal professionals in the state.

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