Kentucky Law Review

CIVIL: "SCOKY Holds Prohibition Not Available Against Nonjudicial Public Officials; Prior Cases Permit Mandamus Against Nonjudicial Officers in Limited Circumstances"

From David Kramer's Civil Litigation Blog:

SCOKY Holds Prohibition Not Available Against Nonjudicial Public Officials; Prior Cases Permit Mandamus Against Nonjudicial Officers in Limited Circumstances

by David Kramer

The Kentucky Supreme Court held earlier this year that a writ of prohibition was not an appropriate remedy to challenge a County Attorney’s use of documents incorrectly purporting to originate from a court to require persons named in a criminal complaint but not yet charged to attend a mediation prior to issuance of a warrant or summons. 

In Minix v. Roberts, 350 S.W.3d 449 (Ky. 2011), the Court, while expressly disapproving of the practice, said relief by way of prohibition was not available to require the County Attorney to cease using emblems of the Court of Justice to require potential misdemeanants to attend mediation sessions, since a County Attorney is not a judicial officer.  The Court suggested that the proper procedure to challenge such a practice would be to seek an injunction or file a declaratory judgment action.  The Court concluded the opinion with a warning that the County Attorney should cease using judicial images on documents relating to the pre-warrant mediation program.

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Louisville Lawyers: " Greenebaum Doll & McDonald to merge with Indianapolis firm"

From Courier Journal:

Greenebaum Doll & McDonald to merge with Indianapolis firm

One of Louisville’s largest law firm, Greenebaum Doll & McDonald, is merging with a slightly bigger firm in Indianapolis, although in a joint announcement, the two call it a marriage of “equals.”The new firm will be known as Bingham Greenebaum Doll when the combination takes effect Jan. 2.

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LOUISVILLE: "Norton Commons sues over proposed apartment complex "

From Courier Journal:

Norton Commons sues over proposed apartment complex
Story by Emily Hagedorn

Norton Commons has sued the Metropolitan Sewer District and the developers who want to build a 256-unit apartment complex near the community to prevent changes to a retention basin.

The lawsuit filed Nov. 29 asks the Jefferson County Circuit Court to halt plans by MSD, Hills Land & Development Co. and Chamberlain LLC to use or modify a retention basin in a way that doesn’t benefit Norton Commons, which also uses the basin.

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LOUISVILLE: "Constable who shot woman sues Louisville and police"

From Courier-Journal:

Constable who shot woman sues Louisville and police

Story by Jason Riley 12/21/2011
Jefferson County Constable David Whitlock, who shot a woman in a Walmart parking lot last month, filed separate lawsuits Wednesday against Louisville metro government and the Louisville Metro Police Department, claiming he was unfairly targeted when the Metro Council recently mandated that constables can’t wear police-style uniforms or carry badges.

LawReader Posts of Note

LAWREADER RECEIVES ALLEGATIONS REGARDING THE QUESTIONABLE USE OF OUTSIDE COUNSEL BY THE KBA BAR COUNSEL

FEINBERG RECANTATION MADE AFTER TRIAL, IN CLOSED ROOM, WITHOUT CROSS-EXAMINATION – WILL THIS BE BASIS FOR NEW LEGAL THEORY ALLOWING POST TRIAL RECANTATIONS

WHAT ISSUE MIGHT BE CONSIDERED BY THE KY. SUPREME COURT IN THEIR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW OF THE COURT OF APPEALS RULING IN ABBOTT V. GALLION ET AL?

KENTUCKY SUP. CT. GRANTS DISCRETIONARY REVIEW OF DISMISSAL BY CT. OF APPEALS IN ABBOTT V. GALLION FEN PHEN CIVIL CASE

The Media Seems Outraged by Newt’s Plan to Arrest Judges Who Make Rulings He disagrees With….But that same doctrine has been advanced by the KBA in Kentucky, and was recently upheld

DUTY OF ATTORNEYS TO REPORT ETHICAL VIOLATIONS OF OTHER ATTORNEYS – Does this apply to Bar Counsel’s Office?

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR BAR COUNSEL’S OFFICE TO HIDE ETHICS COMPLAINTS AND PROTECT THEIR FRIENDS?

DUTY OF ATTORNEYS TO REPORT ETHICAL VIOLATIONS OF OTHER ATTORNEYS – Does this apply to Bar Counsel’s Office?

COPY OF ANGELA FORD BRIEF SEEKING TO AVOID ACCOUNTING TO U.S. ATTORNEY

WHEN WILL THE KBA TELL THE PUBLIC WHY THEY FIRED LINDA GOSNELL? OPPOSITION TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS GROWS.

AOC CLAIMS COURTS ARE OPEN AND TRANSPARENT – BUT KBA REFUSES TO RELEASE INFORMATION

NORTHERN KY: "Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleader under investigation by Kentucky attorney general's office"

From Courier Journal:

Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleader under investigation by Kentucky attorney general's office

Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleader and Northern Kentucky teacher Sarah Jones, who gained national attention by suing a gossip website that claimed she was promiscuous, is now the subject of two investigations.Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway has been asked to assign a special prosecutor to a criminal case. The board that certifies teachers in Kentucky is also investigating Jones and she resigned Nov. 30 from Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood.

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Ky Court Posts 12/25/2011

JURY INSTRUCTIONS: Civil case, separate instructions for past and future pain and suffering; and what about 'inconvenience'

STDS of REVIEW: Appellate review of jury instructions in civil case

STDS OF REVIEW: Appellate review of directed verdict denial

December 22, 2011 COA Minutes -- Nos. 1150-1172 (23 decisions; 4 published)

December 16, 2011 COA Minutes -- Nos. 1131-1141 (21 decisions; 7 published)

December 2011 SCOKY Oral Arguments set for Dec. 14 and 15, 2011

December 9, 2011 COA Minutes -- Nos. 1117-1130 (14 decisions; 2 published)

 

LOUISVILLE: Judge Annette Karem's request to reduce contempt sentence if attorney agreed to pay judge's legal fees fighting the appeal has been attacked

From Courier Journal:

Judge's billing request attacked
Courier Journal 12/23/2011
Story by Andrew Wolfson

In an unusual plea bargain, a Jefferson County judge offered to reduce the contempt sentence of a lawyer from six months to one weekend in jail — if she agreed to pay any legal fees the judge incurs fighting the lawyer’s appeals.

Attorneys for Louisville lawyer Amelia “Mikki” Adams have asked Kentucky’s chief justice to disqualify Jefferson District Judge Annette Karem from further hearing the case, saying she injected “her own pecuniary interests into her decision-making process,” creating a conflict of interest and “the appearance, if not the actuality, of impropriety.”

Karem’s lawyer, Lee Sitlinger, said the judge did nothing wrong and that it was his idea to include the payment of fees as one of the conditions for settling the case. Karem hired Sitlinger when Adams named her as the defendant in her appeals.

But leading national experts on judicial experts say it was improper for Karem to propose resolving a case in a way that would benefit her financially. Monroe Freedman, a lawyer professor who teaches ethics at Hofstra University, said in an email that “the judge should be removed from the case, if not from the bench.”

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Three "D's" of Defense Can Add up to another "D" - Dollars. See Huffington Post story

Allstate takes a hit in the news story, but apparently not a hit in its financial bottom line as following story dramatizes from Good Hands to Boxing Gloves.  One insurers chase for profits.   The 3 D's of defense are - deny, delay, don't pay.  The result dollars, dollars, and more dollars.

Insurance Claim Delays Deliver Massive Profits To Industry By Shorting Customers

WASHINGTON -- Unlike many other businesses, the insurance industry is bound by law to act in good faith with its customers. Because of their protective role in the lives of ordinary citizens, insurers have long operated as semi-public trusts. But since the mid-1990s, a new profit-hungry model, combined with weak regulation, has upended that ancient social contract.

"Claims has been converted into a money-making process," said Russ Roberts, a New Mexico-based management consultant and former business professor at Northwestern University who has studied the insurance industry's evolution from a service business to a profit-driven machine.

The change started when consulting giant McKinsey & Company sold Allstate and other leading insurance companies on a new system to boost the bottom line: Rather than adjusting claims the traditional way, which gave claims managers wide latitude to serve customers, insurers embraced a computer-driven method that produced purposefully low offers to claimants.

Those who took the low-ball offers received prompt service, while those who didn't had their claims delayed and potentially were reduced to bringing expensive lawsuits to fight for their benefits. As former Allstate agent Shannon Kmatz told the American Association for Justice, the trial lawyers' lobby, the strategy was to make claims "so expensive and so time-consuming that lawyers would start refusing to help clients." The strategy was dubbed "Good Hands or Boxing Gloves" by the consultants, riffing on Allstate's advertising slogan.

McKinsey, which was reportedly hired by Allstate in 1992, prepared about 12,500 PowerPoint slides to present its plan. The slides were introduced in litigation in 2005, when the insurer turned them over under a temporary protective order. David Berardinelli, a New Mexico-based trial lawyer who was working on the case, detailed the slides in his 2008 book, "From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves: The Dark Side of Insurance."

McKinsey's strategy put profits above all.

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CHILD ABUSE DEATHS: "Some child abuse deaths missing from Kentucky's list"

Some have asked me when is the Attorney General or law enforcement authorities going to look into this and other stories surrounding children who should have been protected.  I do not know the answer to that one, and if there is an on-going investigation to hold those responsible accountable for the problem, I know I do not need to know about it now.  Let the law enforcement folks do their job. 

Some child abuse deaths missing from Kentucky's list