Kentucky Court of Justice
Court of Appeals to hear civil cases from Fayette, Franklin, Garrard and Laurel counties Feb. 29 in Lexington
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Kentucky Court of Appeals will convene Wednesday, Feb. 29, in Lexington to hear arguments in civil cases on appeal from Fayette, Franklin, Garrard and Laurel counties. Proceedings are open to the public and will take place in Courtroom I on the fourth floor of the Robert F. Stephens Circuit Courthouse at 120 N. Limestone St. Arguments in the first case of the day will start at 10 a.m. EST.
Court of Appeals Judges Glenn E. Acree, Michael Caperton, Sara Walter Combs, Michelle M. Keller, Joy A. Moore, Janet L. Stumbo and Laurance B. VanMeter and Senior Judge Joseph E. Lambert will comprise the three-judge panels to hear oral arguments in the appeals.
Nearly all cases heard by the Kentucky Court of Appeals come to it on appeal from a lower court. If a case is tried in Circuit Court or District Court and the losing parties involved are not satisfied with the outcome, they may ask for a higher court to review the correctness of the trial court’s decision. Some cases, such as criminal case acquittals and divorces, may not be appealed. In a divorce case, however, child custody and property rights decisions may be appealed. Cases are not retried in the Court of Appeals. Only the record of the original court trial is reviewed, with attorneys presenting the legal issues to the court for a decision.
Fourteen judges, two elected from seven appellate court districts, serve on the Court of Appeals. The judges are divided into panels of three to review and decide cases, with the majority determining the decision. The panels do not sit permanently in one location, but travel throughout the state to hear cases.
LEXINGTON DOCKET
To see more information on a case, input the case number on the Court of Appeals cases page.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 29, 2012 (Times are Eastern Standard Time)
10 AM
2010-CA-002194
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, (CABINET FOR HEALTH AND FAMILY SERVICES) v LEXINGTON H-L SERVICING, INC. (D/B/A LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER) ET AL.
Summary: Civil. At issue is whether the Circuit Court erred in awarding costs and attorney fees to two Kentucky newspapers pursuant to KRS 61.882(5) following a finding that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services willfully withheld records in violation of the Kentucky Open Records Act. The cabinet argues that it relied upon opinions from the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General and exemptions under state and federal law in denying the newspapers’ open records requests. The newspapers are the Lexington Herald-Leader and Louisville Courier-Journal. Court of Appeals Judges Glenn E. Acree and Joy A. Moore and Senior Judge Joseph E. Lambert will hear the appeal. Judge Lambert will preside.
Franklin County judge who presided in the case – Judge Phillip Shepherd
Appellant’s attorneys: Anne Burnham, D. Irvin, Fredrick Keith and Mona Womack
Appellees’ attorneys: Robert Houlihan Jr. and Kif Skidmore for Lexington H-L Servicing Inc. and William Estep; Jon Fleischaker and Jeremy Rogers for The Courier-Journal Inc.
10:45 AM
2011-CA-000004
LAURENCE H. KANT v LEXINGTON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Summary: Civil. This is an appeal of a summary judgment. At issue in the appeal is ministerial exception in an employment termination case. Court of Appeals Judges Glenn E. Acree, Michelle M. Keller and Joy A. Moore will hear the appeal. Judge Moore will preside.
Fayette County judge who presided in the case – Judge Kimberly Nell Bunnell
Appellant’s attorney: Christopher Miller
Appellee’s attorneys: Richard Griffith and Elizabeth Muyskens
11:30 AM
2010-CA-002212
RANDALL L. STATHERS ET AL. v GARRARD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION ET AL.
2010-CA-002281
(CROSS-APPEAL) GARRARD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION ET AL. v RANDALL L. STATHERS ET AL.
Summary: Civil. Randall Stathers et al. (and others) are appealing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the Garrard County Board of Education et al. At issue in the appeal is whether the court erred in granting summary judgment on the basis that the expert opinion from Randall Stathers et al. failed to establish a causal connection between the conduct of the board of education et al. and the damage to the homes of Randall Stathers et al. Also at issue is whether the trial court erred in finding that Randall Stathers et al. failed to submit sufficient lay testimony to establish the requisite causal connection. At issue in the cross-appeal is whether the Garrard County Board of Education is entitled to governmental immunity. Other parties in this case include Branscum Construction Co., Impact Drilling and Blasting and Irvine and Pyles Drilling Co. To see all parties in the appeal/cross-appeal and their attorneys, input the case numbers on the Court of Appeals cases page.
Court of Appeals Judges Glenn E. Acree, Joy A. Moore and Laurance B. VanMeter will hear the case. Judge Acree will preside.
Garrard County judge who presided in the case – Judge Hunter Daugherty
Attorneys representing Randall L. Stathers: Gerry Calvert and James Long Jr.
Attorneys representing Garrard County Board of Education: Whitney Dunlap III and William Hoback
1 PM
2010-CA-001798
JIMMY KIRBY v LEXINGTON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Summary: Civil. This is a case of first impression. Jimmy Kirby is appealing the Circuit Court’s dismissal of his case. The case was dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under the religion clauses of the First Amendment. At issue is the interpretation of the Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine. Court of Appeals Judges Glenn E. Acree and Michael Caperton and Senior Judge Joseph E. Lambert will hear the appeal. Judge Caperton will preside.
Fayette County judge who presided in the case – Thomas L. Clark
Appellant’s attorneys: Douglas Howard and Amos Jones
Appellee’s attorneys: Richard Griffith and Elizabeth Muyskens
1:45 PM
2010-CA-001282
MARY B. CALHOUN ET AL. v CHARLES E. PROVENCE II ET AL.
2010-CA-001348
(CROSS-APPEAL) CHARLES E. PROVENCE II ET AL. v MARY B. CALHOUN ET AL.
Summary: Civil. This is a matter-of-right appeal and cross-appeal from a jury trial in a personal injury case. The trial resulted in a verdict in favor of Mary B. Calhoun. At issue is whether the trial court erred in bifurcating the trial, directing the verdict for two defendants, failing to grant a directed verdict and a new trial on the issue of causation, and excluding evidence. Also at issue is whether, as a matter of law, the title passes from one dealer to another, thereby passing legal responsibility for insurance coverage. The et al. (and others) in the case names means that there are other parties in the appeal/cross-appeal. To see all parties in this appeal/cross-appeal and their attorneys, input the case numbers on the Court of Appeals cases page.
Court of Appeals Judges Sara Walter Combs, Michelle M. Keller and Janet L. Stumbo will hear the appeals. Judge Stumbo will preside.
Laurel County judge who presided in the case – Judge Gregory A. Lay
Attorney representing Mary B. Calhoun: Ralph Gibson
Attorney representing Charles E. Provence: R. Tooms
Senior Judge Joseph E. Lambert
Judge Joseph E. Lambert is a senior judge assigned to the Court of Appeals and is chief judge of Kentucky’s Senior Judges Program. He became a senior judge after retiring June 27, 2008, as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky.
Judge Lambert served 22 years as a Supreme Court justice and 10 years as chief justice. He was first elected to the Supreme Court in 1986 from the 27 southeastern Kentucky counties of the 3rd Supreme Court District. He was subsequently re-elected in 1994 and 2002. He became Kentucky’s fourth chief justice in October 1998 by a vote of his fellow justices and was re-elected to two additional four-year terms as chief justice in 2002 and in 2006.
During Judge Lambert’s 10-year tenure as chief justice, the Kentucky Court of Justice made great strides in Family Court, judicial facilities, court technology, Drug Court, judicial education, pretrial services and diversity awareness. In the last decade, Kentucky has earned a national reputation for Family Court, court facilities improvement, Drug Court and many other cutting-edge initiatives.
As a justice of the Supreme Court, Judge Lambert authored more than 400 published opinions of the Court and scores of dissenting and concurring opinions. In addition, he authored more than 500 memorandum opinions. He has been a frequent lecturer at bar conferences and has authored articles for publication in scholarly journals and the Kentucky Bar Association’s Bench and Bar magazine. He has also participated in numerous national legal education events as an invited speaker or panelist. As chief justice, he was an active member of the national Conference of Chief Justices and was elected to serve on its board of directors.
In 2000, the Kentucky Bar Association named him Outstanding Judge of Kentucky. He is a former board member of the Conference of Chief Justices and a former regent of Eastern Kentucky University. He serves as board chair of the Kentucky Judicial Form Retirement Plan.
The Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy gave Judge Lambert its Public Service Award in 2006. In 2004, he received the Civil Rights Award from both the Northern Kentucky NAACP and the Lexington NAACP for his commitment to eliminating discrimination. In 2003, he was awarded the Kentucky Bar Association President’s Special Service Award. He was given the Kentucky Public Advocate Award in 2001. In 2000, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals gave him its Leadership Award.
In October 2007, U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. appointed Chief Justice Lambert to membership on the Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown (Ky.) College and a juris doctor from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, which gave him its Distinguished Alumni Award. He has received honorary doctor of laws degrees from Georgetown College, Eastern Kentucky University and Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law.
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Administrative Office of the Courts
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