The Circuit Court of Livingston County, Missouri dismissed firm client, Birch Rea Partners, Inc. (”Birch Rea”) from a lawsuit filed against it in that county.  Birch Rea, an appraisal company located in Boston, Massachusetts, was dismissed because the court concluded it lacked personal jurisdiction over Birch Rea.  The lawsuit arose from  5 commerical appraisals performed in the New York and Pennsylvania that were mailed to to a Missouri Bank. The Court concluded that the requirements of Missouri’s long-arm statute had not been met and  that exercising the requested jurisdiction did not comport with the Due Process Clause as Birch Rea did not have sufficient minimum contacts with the State of Missouri.

On December 13, 2011, the Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of Yocum’s client.  Ms. Yocum’s client was one of several excess carriers with policies following a primary policy issued by Federal Insurance Company for a combined total of $85 Million D&O coverage.  Plaintiff Trust was an assignee of an agreed $56 Million judgment against a former officer of Interstate Bakeries.   The former officer was absolved from payment by reason of a settlement agreement with Plaintiff. The Court concluded the District Court properly granted summary judgment finding no coverage for the claimed loss.  The Court determined that Missouri law does not allow estoppel to extend coverage over otherwise uncovered claims.  The Court further concluded that the $56 Million judgment and settlement agreement did not constitute a Loss triggering coverage under the policies.

The Louisiana Association for Justice has invited Rick Morefield to speak at its annual “Winning with the Masters” continuing legal education program on December 9, 2011. Mr. Morefield will speak on “The Art of Advocacy: Lessons from Preachers.” Great preachers and great trial lawyers share many similar skills and techniques. Mr. Morefield will discuss how to apply the techniques of great preachers to trial advocacy so that lawyers can obtain the right results for the right reasons.  Mr. Morefield is a founding shareholder and director of Bottaro, Morefield, Kubin & Yocum, P.C., a Leawood, Kansas firm providing personal injury and business litigation services in Missouri and Kansas.

On October 14, 2011, Rick Morefield was one of three speakers at a trial techniques seminar in Seattle, Washington.  Mr. Morefield spoke on written and oral trial advocacy, on preserving the record on appeal and on recusal of judges. The seminar was sponsored by the Trial Techniques Committee of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association and was presented to members of the ABA Young Lawyers Division.  Mr. Morefield’s fellow panelists included Judge Michael Spearman of the Washington Court of Appeals and appellate lawyer Michael King of Seattle, Washington.

Currently, Mr. Morefield serves as a vice-chair of the Trial Techniques Committee as well as an Editor for “The Brief”, the quarterly law magazine of the the ABA’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section.

On September 12, 2011, Bottaro, Morefield, Kubin & Yocum, P.C. moved to its new location at 11300 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Suite 190, Leawood, Kansas 66211.  The firm also has a new phone number (913-948-8200) and a new fax number (913-948-8228).  We will continue to provide top quality litigation and trial services in Missouri and Kansas.

Kip Kubin and Beckie Yocum have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.   Ms. Yocum has been recognized in the practice areas of Employment Law – Individuals, Employment Law – Management and Litigation – Labor & Employment. Mr. Kubin has been recognized in the practice area of Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers. Special congratulations to Mr. Kubin as one of a distinguished group of attorneys who have been listed in Best Lawyers in America® for ten years or longer. For nearly three decades, Best Lawyers has been regarded – by both the profession and the public – as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States.  For more information, go to www.bestlawyers.com.

On August 6, 2011, Rick Morefield will be one of three speakers at the American Bar Association – Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Program entitled May it Please the Court. The seminar will take place at the ABA Annual meeting in Toronto, Canada and it will focus on four topics important to trial lawyers – recusal of judges, written advocacy at the trial and appellate levels, oral advocacy at trial and on appeal and preserving the record on appeal.  Mr. Morefield’s presentation will focus on each of the topics from the perspective of the trial lawyer.  The other speakers are Judge Mary Jane Trapp of the Ohio 11th District Court of Appeals and John Nieman, Alabama’s state Solicitor General.  Judge Trapp will discuss each of these topics from the perspective of an appellate judge and Mr. Nieman will discuss each of the topics from the perspective of an appellate lawyer.

Bottaro, Morefield, Kubin & Yocum, L.C. is pleased to announce that it will be moving to Leawood, Kansas on September 10, 2011.  The firm has long represented clients in both Missouri and Kansas.  The new office will be located just a few short minutes from the current location in Kansas City, Missouri and will continue to provide convenient access to clients on both sides of the state line.  The new office will be located at 11300 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Suite 190, Leawood, Kansas.  Each of the firm’s attorneys is licensed to practice law in Kansas and Missouri.

Pat Bottaro, Rick Morefield, Kip Kubin and Beckie Yocum were each selected as 2011 Kansas and Missouri Super Lawyers.  The firm is proud that each of its members has received this honor which is limited to the top 5% of lawyers in Kansas and Missouri.

On July 2, 2010, a Clay County, Missouri returned a verdict of $2.487 Million for one of the firm’s clients in a complex wrongful death, personal injury and medical malpractice case. Rick Morefield, lead counsel and Pat Bottaro, second chair, handled the week long jury trial which involved two defendants and a number of novel legal issues.

One of the defendants had an epileptic seizure while driving his SUV.  The defendant drove over the back of the motorcycle ridden by the firm’s client and her husband.  The collision broke the client’s pelvis and lower leg and caused the death of her husband who was burned to death when the motorcycle became trapped under the SUV and caught fire. The widow retained Bottaro, Morefield, Kubin & Yocum, L.C. to file suit against the driver and against the driver’s doctor who was alleged to have negligently provided medical treatment to the driver.  It was alleged that the doctor never informed the driver that he might be at risk of having a seizure while driving and that the doctor never informed the driver that his alcohol consumption could dangerously alter the effectiveness of his epilepsy medicine.

The jury rendered its verdict for the widow and assessed 100% of the fault against the driver of the SUV.  The jury awarded the widow more than $1.3 million for the death of her husband and $1.1 million for her own personal injuries.  The case was unusual in that there are very few situations in which Missouri law permits anyone other than a patient to make a medical malpractice claim against a doctor.  Missouri law permits such a claim, however, when someone is injured because the doctor fails to warn a patient that it is not safe to drive either due to medical treatment that was provided or due to a patient’s lack of understanding about his medical condition.

This is believed to be the largest verdict in Clay County in 2010 and it is one of the top 10 verdicts in the Kansas City area. Congratulations to Rick Morefield and Pat Bottaro on an outstanding result.