By an 89-50 vote, Missouri House Republicans have passed legislation requiring the losing party in a civil action to pay the victor’s attorney fees in suits whose judgment will be “significantly less favorable” than the proposed settlement offer.

In such a case, the victor “must” recover litigation costs from the party that rejected the settlement.

A “significantly less favorable” judgement occurs when the award is less than 50% of the rejected settlement offer for claimants and if the award is more than 150% of the rejected [...]

The City of Kansas City and the Kansas City Firefighters Union, Local 42 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, have reached a new accord.

The new agreement will last for three years and entails a $7.6m cut to the Fire Department.

Local 42 hopes to avoid excepted layoffs through the agreement.

It appears that Local 42′s membership has voted to approve the deal.

According to the Kansas City Star: The City Council still must approve the contract after a public hearing next week.

But the [...]

The Missouri House of Representatives has passed two pieces of legislation aimed at curbing workplace rights.

One bill would restrict protections for whistleblowers.

The other legislation would prohibit lawsuits against co-workers for injuries that occurred on-the-job.

Governor Jay Nixon has vetoed similar legislation, once already this year.

According to the Kansas City Business Journal: The current bill would restrict when to bestow whistleblower status, limit who can receive the reports and cap punitive damages if an employer retaliates, the newspaper reports.

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From the Kansas [...]

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights officials have asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether the State of Kansas is in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act.

The HHS Office of Civil Rights Regional Manager, Ralph Rouse, sought the investigation after determining the impossibility of a voluntary agreement between the State and HHS.

Prior to making the request with the Justice Department, Rouse met with Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and other State officials.

According to the Kansas City Business [...]

As Legal Sonar previously reported, Missouri’s Second Injury Fund has arrived at the precipice of insolvency, unable to serve its purpose: funding victims with pre-existing health conditions whose workplace injuries preclude them from continuing their jobs.

According to Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, the caretaker of the Fund, the Fund is running out of cash.

Koster quit paying awards a year ago.  Now, 169 permanently disabled Missouri workers are owed more than $11.8m in first-time payments.

Such delinquent payments are subject to [...]

Late last week, the Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee approved SJR 51, a bill designed to send to Missouri voters an amendment to the Missouri Constitution to change the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan.

That bill has been added to the Senate calender for perfection.

Sponsored by Missouri Senator Sen. Jim Lembke (R-St. Louis County), SJR 51 proposes to give the governor greater say over the nominating commission for appellate judges.

The proposal would increase the number of those nominated by the Appellate Judicial Commission for vacancies on the Missouri Supreme Court and Court of [...]

If Kansas legislators and Governor Sam Brownback fail to agree on a congressional redistricting plan, the state may face costly litigation.

That, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, could result in the State of Kansas having to pay legal fees to anyone who sues based on a failure to properly redistrict.

Attorney General Schmidt has urged Kansas lawmakers to move quickly upon their return from a long vacation this week.

According to the Kansas City Star: [Such expenses] happened in 1982, when legislators approved a U.S. House [...]

As Legal Sonar previously reported, Kansas courts have been on a brink of shutdown with possible court employee furloughs unless certain Kansas budget gaps are filled.

Now, the Kansas Supreme Court has announced that it will postpone some of the furloughs and shut downs on the promise of Kansas legislators who have committed to finding the necessary funding.

The first of the expected closings occurred last Friday.

1,500 court employees were affected statewide.

Last week, the Kansas House Appropriations Committee provided important signals that the legislature would fill the gaps and prevent further furloughs.

Kansas Chief Justice [...]

In a rare 33 to 1 vote, the Missouri Senate passed legislation today to replace the Kansas City Missouri Public School Board with a state-imposed governance structure.

That takeover could occur at some point this year if the legislation makes it through the Missouri House and is signed by Governor Jay Nixon.

Before the bill reaches Gov. Nixon’s desk, it must pass the Missouri House, where a similar bill was approved earlier this year.

While a Missouri statute currently allows for a two-year turn around period [...]

Jackson County Circuit Judge Charles Atwell will hear final arguments today over whether a city-proposed tax district designed to fund a $100m street car is legal. Yesterday, Judge Atwell heard testimony from those for and against the proposal.  While supporters of the streetcar tax district outnumbered opponents of the plan, wide division remains within that community. While some business owners showed a willingness to tax themselves in hopes that a streetcar would bring economic development, others feared that the tax would drive out their businesses. Others were concerned [...]