Firefighter Quits Joplin Pension Board Over Tobben’s Firefighter Disability Pension Case

The Joplin Globe has reported that a Joplin firefighter has resigned from the Police and Firemen’s Pension Fund board.

Tim Woodward, a battalion chief, stated that he resigned over the issue surrounding the lawsuit over disability benefits for  Tom Robertson, a former Joplin fire department driver-engineer. Robertson’s original disability benefits were reduced when recalculated by the pension board, and the board later declined to reverse their decision in an appeal by Robertson.

Robertson’s attorney, Dan Tobben, of St. Louis, discussed the issue with the board before a lawsuit was filed. He contended that those covered by the plan did not authorize changes to the plan that reduced benefits.

According to the Globe, Woodward conducted his own research regarding whether the pension board was advised that previous changes to the plan would reduce firefighter disability payments. Woodward said that the board had a chance during the board meeting, when presented with evidence he had uncovered during his own research, to reverse their previous decision regarding Robertson’s recalculated reduced disability benefit pay. When the board would not seize the opportunity to settle the lawsuit, Woodward resigned from the board.

“There’s sufficient evidence, and I presented sufficient evidence that shows there was never any authorized change to calculating disability benefits,” Woodward said. “There was never discussion by any previous boards to do that. There was never any ballot that indicated any such change. There was never a vote. And yet [Brian] Head maintained it was authorized to change that disability calculation.”

Brian Head, Joplin’s city attorney and adviser to the pension board under the city charter, disagrees that the board and the union membership were not properly informed.

For information regarding the Robertson lawsuit, click here.

Read more … Joplin Globe

David A. Zobel Promoted to Associate by Danna McKitrick

Litigation Group Continues to Grow

David A. Zobel has been promoted to associate in the litigation department of Danna McKitrick, P.C. Zobel primarily represents individuals and corporations in the defense of civil litigation, including contract, negligence and real estate matters.

In addition to his court room work, Zobel assists in advising clients on contract and employment issues and regarding issues arising under the Sunshine Law.

“As a law student, I was attracted to Danna McKitrick’s breadth of practice areas. I valued the ability to gain experience in a multitude of legal areas working to solve issues for a variety of clients. As an attorney, I continue to value this firm’s coverage which often utilizes several practice areas in quickly and efficiently solving our clients’ matters,” Zobel stated.

Zobel is a great addition to the continually growing litigation practice of the firm, according to the head of the firm’s litigation group.

“We are constantly on the lookout for bright law students, and David has developed into a talented young attorney. Watching him grow over the past year and a half as a law clerk has given us the opportunity to see his strengths, and to know early on that we wanted him as a member of our litigation team,” said Daniel G. Tobben, principal and head of Danna McKitrick’s litigation department.

During law school, Zobel worked as an extern with the Missouri Court of Appeals, reviewing and summarizing appellate arguments and responses and drafting memoranda summarizing claims in preparation for oral arguments as well as memoranda on worker’s compensation, juvenile and criminal appeals.

He worked as a law clerk with Danna McKitrick in the areas of professional malpractice, real estate transactions, pensions and worker’s compensation. Zobel has experience in alternative dispute resolution on personal injury and wrongful death matters as well as client MSPRC lien claims matters, including negotiating lien settlements.

Zobel was an aide to Missouri State Senator Chuck Graham and worked across the state to promote the MOHELA reorganization bill.

He graduated cum laude from Saint Louis University School of Law in 2011, where his credentials include: Dean’s List, Journal of Health Law and Policy Staff Editor, Health Law Association, Legal Research and Writing Teaching Assistant. Zobel earned his B.S., cum laude, in political science with a leadership and public service minor from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2008.

Zobel is admitted to practice in Missouri and the U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri. He is a member of the Missouri Bar and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.

Read “People” … St. Louis Business Journal

Ruth Binger Shares Insight on Discovery of Lies After Hiring

St. Louis Small Business Monthly recently ran a “Board of Directors” column titled ”How do I handle an employee who lied in the interview process?” They asked Attorney Ruth Binger for her insight on how to deal with situation where an employee lied about his experience and education that was not uncovered until several years after hiring.

Read Ruth’s response here.

Soraghan and Schmitt Named to Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers & Rising Stars 2011 has recognized Joseph R. Soraghan and Jeffrey R. Schmitt as two of the top attorneys in the state of Missouri for 2011.

For the second year in a row, Attorney Joseph R. Soraghan has been named as one of the top attorneys in Missouri by Super Lawyers. Only 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are honored.

Attorney Jeffrey R. Schmitt has been selected for inclusion on the Missouri & Kansas Rising Stars 2011 list. It is a recognition of up to 2.5 percent of “the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state — those who are 40 years old or younger, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less,” according to Super Lawyers.

“I am honored to be recognized on the 2011 Rising Stars list by attorneys around the state of Missouri, as well as by Super Lawyers. To be honored by peers in my chosen profession is truly humbling,” Schmitt said.

Schmitt, who practices in the areas of banking, real estate, construction, pensions and retirement plans, is also the president of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce. He was recognized by The Missouri Bar Young Lawyers’ Section in 2010 as a “Young Lawyer You Should Know.”

Soraghan’s primary practice areas include business law, securities, corporate finance, and alternative dispute resolution.

“Thomson Reuters is one of the nation’s premier legal publishers. I am truly honored to be selected again by Super Lawyers, one of its publications,” he said.

Soraghan has been recognized as one of the Top St. Louis Entrepreneurial Lawyers in St. Louis by St. Louis Small Business Monthly, and received the Financial Services Champion, Region VII award from the U.S. Small Business Association. He is the founding director and secretary of the Missouri Venture Forum.

The selection for inclusion in the list is made by the research team at Super Lawyers, which is a service of the Thomson Reuters Legal division based in Eagan, MN. Each year, the research team undertakes a rigorous, multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and good-standing and disciplinary checks.

Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. Super Lawyers is located online at www.superlawyers.com, where lawyers can be searched by practice area and location.

Glick’s “Using Engagement Letters to Protect from Liability and Market to Clients” Published in St. Louis Bar Journal

Thomas G. Glick, immediate past-president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan of St. Louis, was published in the Fall 2011 edition of the St. Louis Bar Journal. Read Glick’s thoughts on “Using Engagement Letters to Protect from Liability and Market to Clients.”

The effective use of an engagement letter policy is almost as good a hedge against professional liability as malpractice insurance. If you have chosen to carry malpractice insurance, your insurer would agree with my statements about the importance of creating and maintaining an engagement letter policy.

Engagement letters, when properly prepared, can protect you and your client, while at the same time provide marketing opportunities.

Read the full article … St. Louis Bar Journal 

Tobben Works With Firemen’s Retirement System and St. Louis City for New Solutions to Pension Issues

Under a new proposal being considered by the St. Louis Aldermanic Council, St. Louis City firefighters may have opportunities other than full disability due to injuries on the job. Retraining may become an option.

Dan Tobben has been working to help author the bill, according to stltoday.com.

Moreover, said Firemen’s Retirement System attorney Dan Tobben, whose office wrote much of  the bill, the education component will get disabled firefighters back into the  workforce.

“One of the big problems in America now is there are too many people getting  checks and not enough people working,” Tobben said. “This is a version of that.  We’re trying to get people to be back gainfully employed in the workforce.”

And while city leaders have consistently called the firefighter pension fund  a growing crisis, Tobben said he doesn’t believe it is as badly underfunded as  the city makes it out to be.

Read more … stltoday.com

Fewer Business Bankruptcies in St. Louis: Bankruptcy Attorney Tom DeWoskin’s Perspective

Tom DeWoskin, a seasoned bankruptcy attorney with over three decades of experience, weighs in on the dramatic decrease in business bankruptcy filings in the St. Louis area in 2011 over last year. In an article on 2nd quarter 2011 business backruptcies in the St. Louis Business Journal, DeWoskin commented on the state of bankruptcies in greater St. Louis.

“It seems to me that everybody in St. Louis who is going to fail has failed,” DeWoskin said. “You can only hang on for so long. After some period of time it’s going to kill you.”

But is that good news for the St. Louis area? Read more of DeWoskin’s thoughts …. the St. Louis Business Journal.

Read more on business bankruptcy in DeWoskin’s blog, “Protecting Against Preference Demands in a Bankruptcy Case.”

IP Attorney Jeff Michelman on the Public Employee’s Expectation of Privacy

In “The Supreme Court Speaks on Public Employee Electronic Privacy (But What Did the Court Say?)” in the St. Louis Bar Journal, intellectual property attorney Jeff Michelman gives employers and employess a lot to think about regarding privacy and technology in the workplace.

Co-authored by Stefan Knudsen, counsel with MFA, Inc., in Columbia, MO, this article takes a hard look at the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ontario v. Quon, which involves public employees’ rights of privacy while using employer-owned technology. In this case, a police sergeant was disciplined for using his work pager for personal texts on the job, casuing him to go over his allowed usage.

In the discovery, it was determined his actual usage for work was minimal, and his personal texts contained inappropriate messages. His employer did not review all of his messages – but chose a representative two-month period for review. The sergeant sued claiming his 4th Amendment rights were violated. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the sergeant’s rights were not violated.

How do Michelman and Knudsen believe the ruling will affect employees’ right to privacy?

“It is crucial for employers to proactively notify employees—in writing—that they are to have no expectation of privacy on work-issued technology. Furthermore they need to enforce use policies of work-issued technologies.”

The article gives insight into what the decision may means, and what it does not mean, for employees and employers in respect to privacy on employer-owned electronic devices.

“Where a the employer needs to monitor, audit, search, or seize information from work-issued technology the employer must have a business-related purpose to do so, and the search must be limited to only that purpose. By the same token employees should attempt to keep personal information and data off of employer-owned technology resources.”

To read the full article, log into the St. Louis Bar Journal.

Michelman Gives Advice for Woman Business Enterprise (WBE)

Women business owners face challenges seeking national Woman Business Enterprise designation, maintaining state WBE designation, and learning how to obtain the designation with other government entities. Attorney Jeff Michelman offered this advice to Julie Steis, president of Mercury Communications and Cosntruction Inc.:

“She should make sure that the startup capital was borrowed on her own signature, and make sure it’s clear she is actually in control of the business – not acting as a figurehead.”

Read more … St. Louis Business Journal

Schmitt Gives Chamber’s Perspective on Positive Changes in Clayton Business District

Attorney Jeff Schmitt commented on the goals of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce to increase business in Clayton’s central business district.

“In moving Parties in the Park to Meramec Avenue this year, one focus and goal was to further increase and promote business to dining and retail establishments in the central business district by bringing the people to the streets,” said Jeff Schmitt, president of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce and principal at Danna McKitrick. “Based upon the first two parties this spring, it’s been a success.”

A graduate of the Chamber’s Leadership Clayton’s 2011 class, Schmitt also shared positive results of the class survey of young professionals’ opinions of  Clayton.

Read more … St. Louis Business Journal