What's New

Sherman Taff Bangert Thomas & Coronado, PC is pleased to welcome Larry Nordling to the firm. Larry joins the firm after ten years of practice with a general litigation firm in Salina, Kansas. Larry has experience practicing in the areas of insurance defense, insurance coverage, general personal injury, employment law and discrimination, workers compensation, products liability, and professional negligence. Recently relocated to the Kansas City area, Larry joined the firm as of counsel in May 2009.

Christopher Heigele was recently elected shareholder in the firm. Chris has practiced as a trial attorney with the firm since July 2003. In that time, Chris has focused his practice on representing clients in general personal injury litigation, product liability claims, governmental liability claims, and insurance law. Chris is also active in conducting continuing legal education seminars for the Defense Research Institute, the Missouri Bar, and the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers. His next seminar is entitled "Winning with Summary Judgments" for the Missouri Bar and is to be presented in June 2009.

Wayne Taff was recently named Vice-Chair of DRI Europe. This appointment continues Wayne's career-long, extraordinary service to DRI, for which he has served as Secretary Treasurer, Director, Chair of the Products Liability Committee, Chair of the Expert Witness Committee, and Chair of the Law Institute. Wayne also recently conducted a seminar entitled "Ethics for Trial Lawyers and Trial Judges" alongside the Honorable Charles E. Atwell, Circuit Judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit of Missouri. The seminar was presented to the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers' Spring 2009 Kansas City luncheon.

Jack Bangert was recently honored with two prestigious awards. First, Jack received the Ben Ely, Jr. Award from the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers. The Ben Ely, Jr. Award recognizes lifetime service to the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers. Jack has been active with the organization since its inception and previously served as its President. The award will be presented to Jack at the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers Annual Meeting in June 2009. Second, in April 2009, Jack was honored with the Alumni Achievement Award from his alma mater, Westminster College. Since his 1973 graduation from Westminster, Jack has actively supported the school. Jack’s decades of contribution were recognized during the Westminster’s 2009 Alumni Weekend festivities.

Mike Thomas recently obtained a favorable summary judgment ruling on an architectural defect claim asserted with regard to a $26,000,000 apartment project in St. Louis, MO. The suit involved a dispute between the project general contractor and multiple subcontractors over unpaid subcontract amounts and remediation of water infiltration problems at the project, with over $3,000,000 in collective damages being asserted. The trial court ruled that the project architect had no liability for statutory contribution claims asserted by project subcontractors, and discharged the architect from the suit.

Steve Coronado and Kevin Brooks co-authored an article entitled "The Vanishing Enforceability of Arbitration Clauses in Nursing Home Admission Contracts" to be published in the upcoming 2009 Summer Edition of the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers Newsletter.

In May, Mark Katz represented the defense perspective for "Art of Advocacy: The CSI Effect on Your Criminal and Civil Cases," a continuing legal education seminar sponsored by the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association CLE Advisory Committee.

Mark Katz and Steve Coronado recently completed the Missouri article for DRI's 50-State Compendium on "Trucking Policy Disclaimers: Policyholder's Obligations to Preserve Coverage." The article provides Missouri's answers to commonly asked questions regarding the duties of insureds. The Compendium is currently on sale on DRI's website.

Paul Gordon will be conducting a presentation at the 2009 DRI Young Lawyers Seminar at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in June. Paul will speak on the subject of conducting cost-effective fact investigations for personal injury cases. Paul was also recently appointed Marketing Chair of DRI Consumer Products and Office Equipment Specialized Litigation Group.

Maggie Tucker won summary judgment for our client, an HVAC installer, on a negligence claim brought by a church for water damage caused by a sprinkler head discharge. The plaintiff claimed our client was negligent in the work it had performed, causing the room where the damage occurred to reach a temperature high enough to activate the sprinkler system in the absence of a fire. Maggie showed the court that there was no evidence our client had breached a duty to the plaintiff or that anything our client had done had activated the sprinkler, even in the face of a former pastor's testimony that the room was "hot as Death Valley."