Schneidewind
BENTON – Prairie State Generating and a Kentucky business settled a claim that exterior wall panels at Prairie State’s power plant in Washington County failed.
The power company and panel provider Centria announced an agreement to Senior U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert on March 25.
They followed through with a joint stipulation on March 29.
Files show the plant cost $28 million including $4.6 million for the panels.
Prairie State retained David Schneidewind of Boyle Brasher in Belleville, and he sued Centria in Washington County circuit court in 2018.
The suit claimed general contractor A.C. Dellovade contracted with Centria to design and manufacture panels, and Centria provided a warranty to cover the finishing coat for 20 years.
Ripplinger
EAST ST. LOUIS – Belleville lawyer George Ripplinger entered an appearance for difficult clients in time to rescue them from a $3.7 million default judgment, District Judge Stephen McGlynn ruled on Feb. 18.
McGlynn vacated an entry of default against Tracey Keiser and Robert Frazier of California, and denied a motion to enter judgment.
Two lawyers previously quit defending Keiser and Frazier against fraud and defamation claims due to communication breakdown and failure to pay.
McGlynn wrote, “While the defaulted defendants do not have the best history of timely locating new counsel, there is no evidence that the default was willful or the result of gross negligence.”
Coleman and Wolf
EAST ST. LOUIS – Kristen Poshard, who claims Madison County fired her for resisting harassment by former county board member Phil Chapman, will try to settle with Chapman and the county next month.
On Feb. 9, at the request of all parties, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gilbert Sison set a settlement conference March 25.
He directed the parties to deliver their positions under seal by March 18.
The county hired Poshard as chief deputy administrator for community development in 2016, at a salary of $92,000.
The county board terminated her in October 2017.
She sued the county, Chapman, county board chairman Kurt Prenzler, and former county administrator Doug Hulme in 2019.
Bower
EAST ST. LOUIS – Washington restaurants asserting St. Clair County jurisdiction over a suit for lockdown losses made false, inaccurate and misleading statements in U.S. district court, Zurich American Insurance argues in a response brief.
Zurich counsel Eileen Bower of Chicago challenged statements of Knightsbridge Restaurant Group, which opposes transfer to the District of Columbia.
In a Dec. 11 brief, Bower says that exceptional circumstances warranted a reply.
Bower wrote that given a limit of five pages for her brief, she addressed the group’s statements instead of its arguments.
Knightsbridge, consisting of ten restaurants that belong to Ashok Bajaj, sued Zurich in St. Clair County circuit court on Oct. 26.