LDM business and commercial trial lawyers Brian Brislen and Eric Tiritilli received a jury verdict in favor of an LDM client on all issues. The case was a unique replevin case tried in Platte County District Court in front of the Honorable Robert Steinke. Our client’s farm vehicles, 2005 and 2014 Mack Truck Feedwagons, were fraudulently pledged as collateral to a bank to collateralize a sizable personal loan to a [...]
As of Friday, June 1, Cathy Trent-Vilim has assumed the position of President of the Nebraska Defense Counsel Association. Ms. Trent-Vilim is a partner at Lamson Dugan & Murray LLP. The Nebraska Defense Counsel Association (NDCA) is a state-wide association dedicated to serving the needs of its members. Membership is open to Nebraska attorneys who devote a majority of their law practice to the defense of civil lawsuits. The NDCA [...]
The Nebraska Court of Appeals recently upheld summary judgment obtained by attorneys Sean Minahan and Pat Vipond in the Nebraska District Court of Keith County. Appellees argued that their insurance agent negligently advised them as to workers’ compensation insurance requirements under state law. The Court, however, determined Appellees failed to request workers’ compensation insurance and the agent had no duty to advise Appellees as to Nebraska’s workers’ compensation insurance requirements. [...]
Congratulations to Katie French and Shannon McCoy on their new leadership roles in the Omaha Bar Association Young Lawyers Division! Both Ms. French and Mr. McCoy are associates at Lamson Dugan and Murray. Chair: Katie French, Lamson Dugan & Murray Board Member At-Large: Shannon McCoy, Lamson Dugan & Murray
Mark Novotny and Sarah Dempsey were recently successful in obtaining summary judgment for a firm hospital client and having the medical malpractice case dismissed. The plaintiff alleged that nurses at the hospital were negligent in leaving a foreign object inside the plaintiff after a procedure. The court agreed with Mr. Novotny and Ms. Dempsey that the case should be dismissed because the statute of limitations for filing the medical malpractice action [...]
It's our pleasure to announce that Cathy Trent-Vilim is the 2018 recipient of the Omaha Legal Professionals Association’s Boss of the Year Award! She will be recognized at the OLPA Annual Boss Appreciation and Officer Installment banquet on April 18, 2018. Please join us in congratulating her.
A judicial nominating commission selected four lawyers Monday as finalists to fill the vacancy on the Nebraska Supreme Court created by the sudden resignation of Judge Max Kelch. Cathy Trent-Vilim is a partner at Lamson, Dugan and Murray and one of the four candidates chosen. Trent-Vilim is a 2002 graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Law and works in the areas of appellate litigation, commercial and insurance law and legal malpractice defense. [...]
LDM would like to congratulate our very own E. Benjamin Nelson on receiving the Distinguished Nebraskalander Award on Saturday night in Lincoln. The dinner was held in the Capitol Rotunda. The setting was beautiful and majestic, with art deco mosaics of Nebraska scenes over our heads and under our feet. Governor Ricketts presented the award to Ben after the Legislative Resolution was read. The Resolution, adopted by the Unicameral, cited [...]
Dan Hassing, an associate in the firm, recently received a defense verdict after a one and one-half day jury trial in the Douglas County District Court. The case involved a side-swipe car accident that occurred in Omaha. Our client was travelling in the left lane of a two-lane street. When our client sought to merge from the left lane into the right lane, our client hit a car that was [...]
Attorney Sarah Dempsey recently received a favorable verdict in an auto accident defense trial. Ms. Dempsey’s client admitted liable for causing the accident. The only remaining issue for trial was the amount of the plaintiff’s damages. The plaintiff claimed she was injured in the accident and required medical treatment. She wanted to hold Ms. Dempsey’s client liability for a spine surgery that occurred over three years after the accident in [...]
LDM business and commercial trial lawyer Brian Brislen has been admitted to practice in the United States Tax Court. Mr. Brislen joins Robert Murray, Dan Waters, Mark Novotny, Katie French and Joseph Borghoff as LDM lawyers admitted in the United States Tax Court. Mr. Brislen is also admitted in Nebraska as well the United States District Court for the Districts of Nebraska, Colorado and the Southern District of Iowa, the [...]
Almost two years ago I wrote about the "swamp" of appellate jurisdiction in family law cases. Unfortunately, the statutes have gone unchanged, and so the appellate courts continue to slog their way through the swamp, trying to explain why one order by the court is not final and another one is. It's a complicated dance. Just yesterday, in In re Interest of Jaydon W. & Ethan W., 25 Neb. App. [...]
LDM business and commercial trial lawyers Brian Brislen and Adam Feeney helped an LDM client obtain a judgment of nearly $2,200,000. They represented the client at trial over three days in July of 2017, in a claim seeking payment of money owed after a nearly decade long farming operation ended. The action sought to recover the full amount of the profits owed to LDM’s client, plus interest. After the close [...]
Originally submitted by Dan Waters, Attorney & Sean Minahan, Attorneys Lamson, Dugan and Murray, LLP; Proud members of C2C in the LICA Contractor. The issues and discussions addressed in the following apply equally to family farm succession planning as they do for succession planning of family owned contracting companies. Christmas Dinner, 2042: Steve: Mike, pass the sweet potatoes. . . . Mike, I said pass the sweet potatoes! Mike: [...]
In hopes of leveling the playing field for individuals with disabilities seeking employment, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits disability discrimination by employers with 15 or more employees with respect to terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. While the objective of this Act is admirable, employers are often apprehensive about interviewing and employing individuals who suffer from a “disability” (meaning a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or [...]
In an unpublished opinion, the Nebraska Court of Appeals recently remanded a case back to the trial court and ordered that the defendant be re-sentenced by a new judge. The opinion arose out of the conviction of 21 year old Taylor W. Welty-Hackett ("Welty"). He pled no contest to attempted first degree sexual assault. The plea agreement stemmed from Welty's intercourse with a 12 year old girl -- who he claimed said she [...]
Kyle Wallor, a Partner in our Litigation Department, successfully secured a summary judgment in excess of $5,800,000 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The client initiated suit asserting breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, conversion, money had and received, an action for an accounting and piercing the corporate veil against a vendor. The vendor contested all claims, largely on the basis this was [...]
Congratulations to Bill Lamson and Denise Destache on a recent defense verdict. The case involved a shoulder surgery with subsequent complications. However, following three and a half days of testimony, it took an Omaha jury less than an hour to return a verdict in favor of our defendant physician in a case tried in Douglas County District Court.
When you practices in the area of legal malpractice defense, you get to see all of the creative ways attorneys get themselves in trouble, or find themselves on the receiving end of a malpractice suit or disciplinary proceedings. Most recently, I came across the story of an Ohio attorney who was indefinitely suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court after being convicted of unauthorized use of his client's property (a fourth degree [...]
Today, in its only published opinion (a 35-pager to boot), the Nebraska Court of Appeals reminded attorneys of the importance of preserving your trial court record for appellate review. That constitutional argument, no matter how brilliant, will mean nothing unless you raise it at the trial court level, and give the trial court an opportunity to pass judgment on it. Also, if evidence is excluded, and you believe the exclusion [...]
Lamson, Dugan & Murray is pleased to announce that the Firm was recently selected by our clients and peers for inclusion in The Best Law Firms 2018 Edition of U.S. News - Best Lawyers®. The Firm was selected "Best Law Firms" in the following practice areas: Metropolitan Tier 1 Omaha • Commercial Litigation • Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy) • Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants • Personal Injury [...]
Monsanto's dicamba has turned friendly neighbors into legal foes due to crops damaged by dicamba's inability to stay where it is supposed to be. With the soybean harvest basically complete, we are seeing more and more claims filed and litigation initiated. Farmers are calculating the effect that dicamba applied by a neighbor may have had on their fields. States like Arkansas, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Tennessee and Indiana are [...]
Parents of special needs children must be cognizant of special considerations in virtually every area of life. Estate planning is no exception. The stringent eligibility requirements of SSDI/SSI and Medicaid/Medicare make the child’s continued eligibility a paramount concern when determining the child’s inheritance. Even if the child is currently employed and not eligible for disability benefits due to the child’s income, parents must evaluate how long the child will be [...]
If you track the periodic Lawsuit Climate Survey, published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, you know the 2017 rankings were issued last month. The 2017 Survey constitutes the 11th fielding of the survey since the Institute for Legal Reform first began conducting its survey in 2002. The Survey This year’s survey was based on telephone and online surveys of 1,321 in-house counsel, senior litigators or [...]
Best Lawyers in America has named ten Lamson, Dugan & Murray LLP attorneys as "Lawyer of the Year” in The Best Lawyers in America 2018 Edition. The recognition of "Lawyer of the Year" is awarded to individual attorneys with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one attorney is recognized as the "Lawyer of the Year" for each specialty and location. Bet-The-Company Litigation William [...]
One of the challenges of being an attorney is keeping up on the law. Not the case law –the Nebraska Court of Appeals and Supreme Court publish their opinions weekly, here and here. The day before the opinions are published, they even post advanced notice of their anticipated opinions, here and here. To make sure you don’t miss out on new developments, the Courts will even send you a list [...]
Daniel P. Chesire, who was featured in the September 15th edition of the Catholic Voice, speaks of his time growing up at Boys Town. He is a current member of the Father Flanagan League Society of Devotion which is working on Father Flanagan’s cause for sainthood. Dan spent about 11 years growing up at Boys Town with his brothers. The home for boys, and now girls, provided a safe place [...]
Partners Mark Novotny and John Walker have recently been able to obtain tax exempt status for a large client in the State of Tennessee despite aggressive opposition by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. Proceeding administratively and on appeal, these attorneys were instrumental in having a Tennessee court adopt the position proffered on behalf of our client. This result follows similar proceedings in a half dozen other states granting similar tax [...]
Congratulations to John Walker on his admission to the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel. FDCC membership is limited, selective, about 1,400 members, and by nomination only of lawyers who have distinguished themselves professionally, who are of high professional standing and of good moral character. Members are: practicing lawyers who devote a substantial amount of their professional time to the representation of insurance companies, associations or other corporations, or others, [...]
The litigation team of Mark Novotny, Nancy Pont and Shelli Eden, after a two week trial, obtained a defense verdict after one and one-half hours of jury deliberations. The case was a complicated matter dealing with the effect of anticoagulation medication in a patient with chronic atherosclerotic vessel disease, diabetes, elevated PSA and a fem-pop venous graft.
LDM partners Bill Lamson, Bill Settles, and Jason Grams recently won an important victory for health care providers in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The case involved a claim of medical malpractice made against a midwife and local hospital by the parents of a neurologically injured child. After a jury verdict of $17 million, the trial court reduced the verdict to $1,750,000 pursuant to Nebraska’s [...]
Holding the Bag According to a quick Google search the term "holding the bag" comes from the mid eighteenth century and means be left with the onus of what was originally another's responsibility. Nobody wants to be left holding the bag. But that is the situation our client (subcontractor) found themselves in when upon completion of a public project the general contractor went out of business before paying [...]
The Association of American Railroads (“AAR”) held its 2017 Advanced Claims School in Overland Park, Kansas from Monday, May 8, 2017 through Friday, May 12, 2017. This week long school provided educational and training opportunities for AAR claims professionals with three (3) or more years of experience in the railroad industry. Several presenters were invited to teach courses to advance the skills and knowledge of claims representatives from varying railroads, [...]
LDM partners Cathy S. Trent-Vilim and Daniel P. Chesire recently obtained a victory for their client – without conducting any discovery in the case and short of obtaining a ruling from the court on the client’s pending motion for summary judgment. The case involved a claim brought by an injured party, individually and as personal representative of the spouse’s estate, related to injuries from a fire. The accidental fire killed [...]
More Congratulations! Bill Lamson and Denise Destache were successful in obtaining a verdict on behalf of their Defendant medical provider following a seven day jury trial in a wrongful death medical malpractice action tried in late April. Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury for $3.2 million dollars in economic and non-economic damages. However, in less than 1 and ½ hours of deliberations, the jury concluded that Plaintiff had failed to meet [...]
On May 5, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the jury verdict in favor of Union Pacific in Winder v. Union Pacific, a case tried by Anne Marie O’Brien, Daniel J. Hassing, and Andrew Reinhart. The Lamson Dugan team defended Union Pacific in the seven-day jury trial that focused on whether an allegedly inoperative handbrake violated the Federal Safety Appliance Act and caused or contributed to Kevin Winder’s injuries. The Lamson [...]
Congratulations to David J. Schmitt who was inducted as a member of the Nebraska Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). According to its mission, ABOTA members are attorneys who display skill, civility and integrity. Membership is by invitation only, after ballot and restricted to trial lawyers who are of high personal character and honorable reputation. In addition, ABOTA members are required to compile a requisite number of [...]
Attorney Nelly Greenberg was a panelist in University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO)’s “Success Series: Life as a Lawyer.” The “Success Series” is a career exploration program that offers ways for students to explore different occupations and career paths. Nebraska Law alumni participated in the panel discussion to help students interested in pursuing law school understand what various practice areas are like, what lawyers do, what a typical day or week [...]
Congratulations to Laura Cejka who was name Legal Professional of the Year by the Omaha Legal Professionals Association. Laura has been at Lamson, Dugan & Murray for two years and she was nominated for her hard work and dedication not only to her attorneys and our Firm, but the legal profession as a whole. Partner Cathy Trent-Vilim who nominated Laura said “she is proactive, conscientious and genuinely cares about doing the [...]
More Congratulations! Bill Lamson and Denise Destache were successful in obtaining a verdict on behalf of their Defendant medical provider following a seven day jury trial in a wrongful death medical malpractice action tried in late April. Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury for $3.2 million dollars in economic and non-economic damages. However, in less than 1 and ½ hours of deliberations, the jury concluded that Plaintiff had failed to meet [...]
My Dear Readers: a query. Do you really understand underinsured motorists coverage? If not, you are much like the Williams family. They sought to collect money from their automobile insurer after the death of their daughter in an auto accident caused by Myers. Their insurer denied the claim, even though the Williams paid for and expected this coverage to make up the difference in damages. Does this sound fair? It [...]
Congratulations to Cathy S. Trent-Vilim for her success in getting summary judgment for her client in a legal malpractice action, and then obtaining summary affirmance of the trial court’s order by the Nebraska Court of Appeals.
Congratulations to Brian J. Brislen, Sarah F. Macdissi, Cathy S. Trent-Vilim and Spencer R. Murphy on their win at the trial court level and affirmance by the Nebraska Court of Appeals. Brian and Sarah succeeded in getting the suit, premised upon an unenforceable non-compete agreement, dismissed at the trial court level. On appeal, Cathy and Spencer succeeded in getting the trial court’s ruling summarily affirmed on grounds that the plaintiff’s [...]
A team of LDM partners worked together to obtain a successful outcome of a case at the trial court level, and then to protect the win on appeal. Patrick G. Vipond obtained a dismissal at the trial court level; Brian J. Brislen wrote a winning appellate brief; and Cathy S. Trent-Vilim argued the appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Cathy S. Trent-Vilim, prepared a successful appellant’s brief on behalf of firm client. The appeal resulted in the reversal of a near-seven figure jury verdict and the case was remanded for a new trial.
In January 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a former mental patient against various mental health providers. Jason W. Grams argued the appeal on behalf of five of the providers. William M. Lamson, Jr. and Michael L. Storey orchestrated dismissal of the suit in the district court. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal on qualified immunity and [...]
In March 2017, Patrick G. Vipond and Sarah M. Dempsey obtained a summary judgment order dismissing a medical malpractice action. Mr. Vipond and Ms. Dempsey represented a hospital, a physician, and the physician’s medical practice in an action filed by a child and his family for medical malpractice. Mr. Vipond and Ms. Dempsey were successful in arguing that the plaintiffs’ expert witness was not qualified to give an opinion that [...]
SOME COURTS CONTINUE TO LIBERALLY INTERPRET CLAUSE IN INSURED'S FAVOR Forgive my absence Dear Readers. Certainly you have missed our regular insurance lessons in this blog, yes? Humor me please. I have just come off two big trials since January. One 6 day trial here in Omaha (defense verdict for our client!), and another trial which was to start in Oakland, CA for 6-8 weeks. That case settled just before trial. However I [...]
The Creighton Law Review held its 2017 Symposium on Thursday, March 16. Lamson, Dugan & Murray sponsored the event, which focused on The Lawyer’s Leadership Role: A Tour of Legal Ethics. The speakers included Professor John McKay, Arnold J. Johnson, J. Scott Paul, and Adam White. Over 300 attorneys attended the Symposium and a reception was held afterward to celebrate Creighton Law Review’s fiftieth anniversary. Spencer Murphy, a former law [...]
In January 2017, Anne Marie O’Brien and Daniel J. Hassing received a defense verdict after a five day jury trial in Douglas County District Court. The Plaintiff had sued under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act, a federal statutory scheme governing workplace injuries for railroad employees working in furtherance of interstate commerce. The Plaintiff alleged that he had suffered whiplash injuries to his cervical spine when the locomotive he was sitting [...]
