Florida Employer charged with First Degree Felony for Workers' Compensation Fraud

Employers in Florida--it is not a good idea to try to save a few bucks on your workers' compensation premiums by fudging the numbers.  Mauricio Soto faces up to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for trying to save money on his workers' compensation insurance premiums by underreporting the number of people he employed.  Our penalties in Missouri aren't quite so harsh---the crime of workers' compensation fraud is a Class D felony, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.  However, the potential punishment is still harsh enough to make both employers and employees alike think twice before committing workers' compensation fraud here in Missouri. 

Phil Tatlow takes on State Legislator who struck pedestrian and left scene

Bollwerk & Ryan attorney Phil Tatlow takes on ex-state legislator Brad Robinson, who struck a pedestrian with his motor vehicle on New Year's Eve and attempted to shift blame to his wife.

St. Louis County Judge Throws the Book at Drunk Driver

On May 13, Judge Colleen Dolan sentenced a drunk driver to 10 years in prison for killing a construction worker on Highway 40 in 2006.  Edward Snodgrass, 27, killed Michael Poahway, an employee for a paving contractor, when Mr. Snodgrass sped through a construction zone. 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch discusses both sides of the medical malpractice caps debate

The Medical Malpractice debate in Missouri is explained by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Attorneys for the victims explain why caps don't work.

Justice John Paul Stevens Hires Only One Clerk for 2010-11 Term...does this mean retirement?

Supreme Court Justices are allowed to hire four law clerks to assist them each term.  Retired Justices are allowed only one.  The fact that Justice Stevens (the oldest Justice on the Court) has only hired one clerk thus far for the 2010-2011 term, leaves some people to question whether President Obama will get another chance to fill an empty seat on the highest court in the nation.

Although the hiring of the clerks is kept confidential until right before the beginning of the new term, it is common for the Justices to have confirmed hiring all of their clerks long in advance of the next term.  As of now, Justice Stevens has only confirmed one hiring for the 2010-11 session.  In the past this has been a sign of a pending retirement on the part of the Justice.  Justice Souter held off on hiring any clerks at all just prior to his announcement of retirement. 

Justice Stevens is the head of the liberal wing of the Court.  He has supported such causes as abortion rights, affirmative action and protections for accused criminals since his appointment to the Court in 1975. 

US Supreme Court Denies Inmate DNA Test

The United State Supreme Court has ruled that William Osborne, an Alaskan inmate, does not have the right to receive a more accurate DNA test in his 1993 case.  The test could help reverse his conviction in a rape and attempted murder case from 1993 when DNA testing was in its infancy.  The Court justifies their decision by stating that they should not constitutionalize the issue, but instead, leave it to the individual States.  However, Alaska has not granted any of their inmates post-conviction DNA requests even though such testing has freed several inmates nationwide who were wrongly convicted.

Accidental Death Benefits Denied by Insurance Company

What should you do if your spouse dies in an accident but his accidental death insurance carrier denies your claim for benefits?

Welcome to Phil Tatlow!

We are pleased to announce that Phillip A. Tatlow joined our firm effective October, 2009.  Phil was a partner in a prominent St. Louis law firm for 18 years before joining us.  Phil was born and raised in Moberly, Missouri.  The son of well-known plaintiffs trial attorney, Gary Tatlow, Phil was destined to become an attorney representing injury victims and their families. His mother, Marilyn Tatlow, also served on the Appellate Judicial Selection Committee, so Phil comes from a family dedicated to serve.  His sister, Rebecca, is also an attorney in Springfield, Missouri. 

Phil attended law school at St. Louis University and was a classmate of Jill Bollwerk, Dan Ryan and Frank Carretero.  He practices in the areas of automobile and trucking accidents, workers' compensation, nursing home negligence, ERISA and disability law, and the appeal of the denial of insurance benefits.

Dan Ryan featured in "St. Louis Magazine" article about Tort Reform.

Pick up the September, 2009 issue of "St. Louis Magazine." Journalist Ray Hartmann wrote an article entitled, " STL Confidential:  A Quiet Case Study that Might Make You Think Twice about Tort Reform."  In that article, Mr. Hartmann features a case handled here at Bollwerk & Ryan.  Mr. Hartmann talks to our very own Dan Ryan about that case.  Dan discusses how this very significant case would have been handled differently if ithe lawsuit had been filed after the tort reform laws were passed here in Missouri in 2005.  He also discusses how the result could have been drastically different as well.  The article is not available on-line at this time, so go pick up a copy at your newsstand.  It might just change your mind about the tort reform debate!

Texas Judge on Trial for Closing Clerk's Office on Time

Judge Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is on trial before the State Judicial Commission for misconduct after she refused to allow the clerk's office to stay open after 5:00 p.m. on September 25, 2007.  That day death-row inmate Michael Wayne Richard was scheduled to be executed for sexually assaulting and killing a woman in 1986.  His attorneys wanted to file an appeal on Richard's case after the Supreme Court announced that day that they would hear verbal arguments as to the humanity of lethal injection as a means to execute prisoners.  However, Richard's attorneys had computer problems about 20 minutes prior to 5:00 p.m. that were not going to allow them to file their paperwork with the court until after closing.  They contacted the clerk's office who then contacted Judge Keller at home (she had left early that day to meet a repairman at her home).  Judge Keller instructed the clerk's office to close at their usual time. Just over three and a half hours later, Richards was put to death.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (the organization that filed the complaint against Judge Keller) say she violated the State's execution day guidelines which allow death-row inmates access to the courts to file appeal documents after closing time.  One of Keller's points of defense is that she was merely asked if the clerk's office could stay open late and she responded "no" because Texas law states that state employees' office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Also as part of her defense, Keller recalls Richards' case which involved several appeals and two trials that led to repeated convictions of Richard.  If found guilty of misconduct, Judge Keller could be removed from the bench.