News
- • Attorneys Obtain Favorable Discovery Ruling
-
Aug 27, 2011
One of the specialties of the Douthit Frets firm is holding accountable companies who manufacture defective child safety seats. One such case – Hadjih v. Evenflo - is pending in Federal Court in Colorado. This case stems from a defective infant carrier child safety seat manufactured by Evenflo – the Discovery – which came apart in a side impact and caused infant A.H. Hadjih to suffer serious brain injuries. Evenflo knew of the problems with these Discovery seats and issued a recall of approximately 1,000,000 Discovery child safety seats. Recently, Douthit Frets attorneys Christopher Stucky and Jeffrey Rowe argued that Evenflo should have to turn over to the Hadjih’s the documents and information relating to that recall. Evenflo vigorously opposed this effort but the Court agreed with Mr. Stucky and Mr. Rowe and ordered Evenflo to produce all of the information about that recall. This was a hard fought victory and resulted in a very well written and well reasoned Order from a Federal Magistrate Judge. Here is a link to the Order: Order granting Motion to Compel .pdf
- • Randy Rhodes
-
Aug 30, 2011
Randy Rhodes, a founding member of the firm and a trial and appellate
lawyer in our Catastrophic Loss department, enjoys spending time with his wife, Debbie, and their three children, Courtney, Clay and Brittany. When he’s not at the office, Randy can usually be found cheering for his children and their friends at a high school or college sporting event, doting on his bulldog, writing or enjoying quality time on a beach with his family. Randy is involved with The Rainbow Network, a faith-based organization working to end extreme poverty in Nicaragua, as well as numerous other charities in and around the Kansas City metropolitan area. Learn more about The Rainbow Network here: http://rainbownetwork.wordpress.com/
- • Our Firm is Growing
-
Jan 5, 2011
Our firm is growing. At Douthit Frets, we are proud to announce that we have recently added six new attorneys: Anthony J. Candelario, Jeffrey D. Rowe, Lindsay F. Heist, Thaddeus J. Schurter, Christopher L. Kurtz, and Brian C. Russell.
- • Attorneys Obtain Order Affirming Summary Judgment
-
Jun 28, 2011
On March 8, 2011, Tim Frets and Mary O’Connell obtained a unanimous ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals affirming the trial court’s grant of summary judgment on behalf of a local hospital and three individual administrative officers at the hospital. Following denial of a motion for rehearing, the Missouri Supreme Court denied a motion to transfer on June 28, 2011.
The lawsuit alleged that a female patient was sexually assaulted by a male nurse while in the hospital emergency room. The lawsuit further alleged that the hospital’s property was in a “dangerous condition” and that the three individual defendants had negligently hired, retained, and supervised the male nurse.
The Court of Appeals held that the hospital’s property was not in a “dangerous condition,” and therefore, the hospital was entitled to sovereign immunity. The Court also held that the three individual defendants, none of whom saw the patient at the time of the events in question, were protected by the public duty doctrine. To read the opinion of the Court of Appeals, please follow the following link: http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=45062
- • Attorney Obtains $4.5 Million Verdict in Oklahoma Medical Malpractice Action
-
May 9, 2011
On May 9, 2011, attorney Doug Gentile obtained a $4.5 million verdict and $500,000 in prejudgment interest for his client in a medical malpractice action tried in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. The lawsuit alleged that the defendant doctor's failure to check plaintiff for previously diagnosed antibiotic associated colitis and subsequent administration of chemotherapy was below the standard of care and was negligent. Plaintiff previously settled with the doctor prescribing the antibiotic.
- • Attorneys successfully enforce non-compete agreement.
-
Apr 13, 2011
Attorneys Ryan D. O’Dell and Chris L. Kurtz obtain summary judgment, including monetary damages and a permanent injunction, from the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, enforcing a non-compete agreement against a client’s former independent contractor.
- • Attorneys obtain $153,000 verdict in U.S. District Court of Kansas.
-
Apr 13, 2011
On April 11, 2011, Attorneys John W. Witten and Jeffrey D. Rowe obtained a unanimous jury verdict of $153,000 for their client – including $125,000 in non-economic damages – in a medical malpractice action tried in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. The lawsuit alleged that the defendant surgeon negligently failed to remove a known cancerous tumor, failed to review the surgical pathology report in a timely fashion, and failed to properly consider the plaintiff’s post-surgical symptoms.
- • Compensatory portion of $10.4 million verdict upheld by Montana Supreme Court.
-
Apr 1, 2011
Compensatory portion of $10.4 million verdict upheld by Montana Supreme Court. Recently, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed the $6.7 million compensatory verdict (which with interest came to over $8 million) that our firm obtained in a case involving a defective Evenflo On My Way child safety seat which killed a toddler named Tyler Malcolm. The court also granted a new trial with respect to the $3.7 million punitive damages award. For more about the verdict and to read the opinion, please follow the following links:
http://www.nctimes.com/business/article_c3f3fbac-ae43-59d4-bec2-d180ee4cecb0.html
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7321466566753336030&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
- • Interesting Decision in City of Kimberling City v. Leo Journagan Construction Company, Inc.
-
Mar 31, 2011
The Missouri Court of Appeals handed down an interesting decision in City of Kimberling City v. Leo Journagan Construction Company, Inc.:
After completion of a sewer project, the City's streets began sinking in many locations, which it claimed was due to improper compaction by Journagan, the general contractor on the project. It also claimed that the trenching work was not performed in a workmanlike manner, since Journagan did not use aggregate bedding and a large majority of the material was clay and chert, rather than the required granular fill. The City filed suit against Journagan. Journagan asserted that the City had waived its claims by accepting the Work and making final payment to Journagan.
The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Journagan, finding that as a matter of law that the City had accepted the Work. Specifically, under the Contract Documents, the Engineer, E.T. Archer, acted as the Owner's Representative and had the right to reject Work and act as the initial interpreter of the Documents. Throughout the project, Archer approved progress payments and then approved final payment.
The appellate court found that although the representations of Archer placed itself "in the line of fire" with the City, it did not have authority to actually bind the City. The Court relied upon the Journagan contract, providing that neither approval of a progress or final payment by the Engineer "will constitute an acceptance of Work not in accordance with the Contract Documents or a release of Contractor's obligation to perform the Work in accordance with the Contract Documents . . . ." In addition, it held that although Archer was the initial interpreter of the Documents, by implication the City was the final interpreter. Thus, the Court held that the City was not bound by Archer's actions. The Court found in favor of the City and reversed the Summary Judgment that had been granted to Journagan by the lower court.
- • Attorney Named "Top-Five Innovator of the Year"
-
Mar 1, 2011
Phillip (Chuck) Rouse was recently named "Top-Five Innovator of the Year" in the prepaid card industry for the year 2010 by Paybefore Magazine.
- • Moore vs. Ford Motor Company
-
Jan 5, 2011
Randy Rhodes and Chris Stucky recently appealed a case successfully to the Missouri Supreme Court and in the process of securing a new trial for our clients obtained an opinion that will benefit anyone injured by a defective product in a lawsuit against the product manufacturer. The case is captioned Moore v. Ford Motor Company and the opinion can be found at the following link:
http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=43943