United States v. Boyce[1]

Opinion handed down February 28, 2011
Link to Eighth Circuit Opinion

The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision not to sentence a defendant under the Armed Career Criminal Act and held that a conviction for possession of a weapon in a correctional facility qualifies as a violent felony. The Third Circuit has reached the opposite conclusion, but the Eighth Circuit followed the reasoning of the Fifth and Tenth Circuits.

Children’s Wish Foundation Int’l, Inc. v. Mayer Hoffman McCann, P.C.[1]

Opinion handed down February 8, 2011.
Link to Mo. Sup. Ct. Opinion

The Supreme Court of Missouri examined whether the comparative fault doctrine applies to professional negligence cases involving economic loss. As a general rule, in negligence actions, Missouri courts apply comparative fault instead of contributory negligence. However, the Uniform Comparative Fault Act says that comparative fault does not apply to cases of negligent misrepresentation involving economic loss. The Supreme Court of Missouri has never ruled squarely on this issue. The court said that all negligence actions are based on fault and the nature of the injury does not inherently warrant the application of comparative fault in some cases and contributory fault in others. Therefore, the Supreme Court of Missouri, disagreeing with the Uniform Comparative Fault Act, held that comparative fault applies in professional negligence cases involving economic loss and that the trial court erred in submitting an instruction to the jury regarding contributory negligence.