THE OURNAL of the Kansas Bar Association JOctober 2006 • Volume 75 • No. 9 See Page 5! Economic Survey of Kansas Lawyers Now Available – THE OURNAL of the J Kansas Bar Association October 2006 • Volume 75 • No. 9 ITEMS OF INTEREST REGULAR FEATURES 5 Executive Director’s Notes: 4 President’s Message Member Benefits Sure to Please! 10 A Nostalgic Touch of Humor 6 Damage to Real Property: 11 Young Lawyers Section News The Lay of the Land 13 Members in the News By Arthur E. Rhodes 12 KBA Mock Trial Program Needs 13 Dan’s Cartoon Coaches 14 Obituaries 30 Appellate Decisions 17 Thinking Ethics: Responding to 36 Appellate Practice Reminders an Ethics Complaint 37 CLE Docket 38 Classifieds 18 National Law Conference Concludes 115th Annual Meeting Cover illustration by David Gilham 19 Welcome Fall 2006 Admitttees 9 Teddy Bears, Books, and a to the Kansas Bar Child’s Smile 20 Introducing the Newest KBA Section: Corporate Counsel 21 Deadline to Submit 2007 IOLTA Grant Applications is Dec. 1 22 Practice Makes Perfect 15 Studying Law in the Netherlands and Europe 35 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Proposed Rules Changes for 2007 Our Mission: The Journal Board of Editors Michael T. Jilka Overland Park The Kansas Bar Association is dedicated to advancing the professionalism and legal Casey Law McPherson skills of lawyers, providing services to its members, serving the community through Assistant Executive Director: Michelle Reinert Mahieu Dodge City advocacy of public policy issues, encouraging public understanding of the law, and René Eichem Hon. Tom Malone Topeka promoting the effective administration of our system of justice. Managing Editor: Susan McKaskle Michelle Masoner Kansas City, Mo. Jill A. Michaux Topeka The Journal of the Kansas Bar Association is published monthly with combined issues for Terri Savely Bezek, Chair Topeka Julene Miller Topeka July/August and November/December for a total of 10 issues a year. Periodical Postage Anne L. Baker Topeka Brian J. Moline Topeka Rates paid at Topeka, Kan., and at additional mailing offices. The Journal of the Kansas Hon. Monti L. Belot Wichita Hon. Lawton R. Nuss Topeka Bar Association (ISSN 0022-8486) is published by the Kansas Bar Association, 1200 Hon. Donald W. Bostwick Wichita Hon. James P. O’Hara Overland Park S.W. Harrison, P.O. Box 1037, Topeka, KS 66601-1037; Phone: (785) 234-5696; Fax: Boyd Byers Wichita Prof. John Peck Lake Quivira (785) 234-3813. Member subscription is $25 a year, which is included in annual dues. Tamara Lee Davis Dodge City Richard D. Ralls Kansas City, Mo. Nonmember subscription rate is $45 a year. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Hon. Jerry Elliott Topeka Richard H. Seaton Manhattan The Journal of the Kansas Bar Association, P.O. Box 1037, Topeka, KS 66601-1037. J. Lyn Entrikin Goering Topeka Marty M. Snyder Topeka Connie Hamilton Topeka Angela M. Stoller Lawrence The Kansas Bar Association and the members of the Board of Editors assume no Mark D. Hinderks Overland Park Catherine A. Walter Topeka responsibility for any opinion or statement of fact in the substantive legal articles Evan Ice Lawrence Diane S. Worth Wichita published in The Journal of the Kansas Bar Association. Katharine J. Jackson Manhattan Martha Coffman, board liaison Topeka For advertising information contact Suzanne Green at (800) 211-1344 or e-mail [email protected]. Publication of advertisements is not to be deemed an endorsement of any product or service advertised unless otherwise indicated. Terri Bezek, Board of Editors chairperson, [email protected] COPYRIGHT 2006 Kansas Bar Association, Topeka, Kan. Susan McKaskle, managing editor, [email protected] From the President David J. Rebein Activist Judges and Evolution: Shouldn’t we be Discussing Political Activism and Revolution? fc. John Adams Rebein departed Dodge City for basic selected. An uneasy truce broke out when a school finance training and airborne school at Fort Benning, Ga., this plan passed and was approved by the Court. summer. He knows that more than likely he will Pface danger in the mountains of Afghanistan or Now that we have a break in the action, I on the streets of Baghdad. Many of us had propose a different topic of discussion. Let’s parting words of wisdom and encourage- address the deplorable state of civics ment. His brother, Ben, had a better education in this state and in this idea. He gave him a pocket Consti- country. In the recent primary tution of the United States. In the elections, about 18 percent of back of the booklet is the Decla- registered voters voted. Most ration of Independence. citizens aren’t even registered. Sometime during the It is no exaggeration to boredom of basic, he was say that our high school spied reading the Consti- graduates have little or tution by one of his fel- no understanding of how low soldiers. They teased the government works or him. His answer, “THIS why our democracy ben- IS WHY WE FIGHT.” efits from citizen involve- A discussion ensued that ment. Retired Supreme ended with the men tak- Court Justice Sandra Day ing turns reading the O’Conner is leading a Declaration aloud. For national discussion of the many, it was the first time need for citizens trained in they had ever read it. civics and able to exercise their rights and responsibili- A good part of this last year ties as citizens. was spent with the Board of Education debating evolution The United States flourished vs. Creationism vs. Intelligent as a land of freedom, ideals and Design. The debate made the edi- ideas before it was a world power. torial pages of The New York Times We are the superpower of the world, and the monologue of Jay Leno. To date, but for how long? Where is Rome? Where God has not weighed in on this controversy. is Greece? They crumbled and then fell. I suggest that they decayed from within and forgot Kansas also roiled over school finance. The Kansas Su- what made them great. Freedom is not free. Let’s focus on preme Court was denounced as a group of judicial activists teaching our children the basics of this amazing form of gov- and there were cries for reform in the way that justices are ernment bought for us with blood. This is a form of activism upon which all of us can agree. n David J. Rebein can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (620) 227-8126. 4 – OCTOBER 2006 THE JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS BAR ASSOCIATION Executive Director’s Notes Jeffrey Alderman Member Benefits Sure to Please! all has always been my favorite season given the change CLE Bookstore to cooler weather, the excitement of students heading This month, through the efforts of many dedicated volun- back to school (at least for most parents anyway), as well teer authors and editors, the Bar Association will release the Fas the start of the college and professional football seasons. second edition of its Kansas Construction Law Handbook. This fall, however, I find myself even more raring to go Add to that our recently revised Criminal Law Handbook as the Bar is preparing to unveil a number of new and en- and the Annual Survey of Law, this makes three new hand- hanced member benefits that I know will be sure to please our books this year! membership. Our hardworking CLE Department, led by CLE Director Casemaker Countdown Deana Mead, along with Kathy Slawson and Kelsey Hen- dricks, is committed to expanding our already impressive By now, I hope most of you have heard about Casemaker. array of publications. Given that we have been running the rocket liftoff sequence During the next several years, the KBA and LexisNexis, our announcement on the back cover of The Journal for nine publishing partner, will continue to work together to bring months, you might ask how you could not be aware. Well, a additional high-quality publications to your doorstep. member benefit this important deserves first class treatment. If you have not yet had an opportunity to check out the For those that have not yet heard the news, Casemaker is a latest KBA handbooks, they are now online at www.lexis. computer-assisted legal research program, which promises to com. Featuring full-text searches and easy-to-use table of con- save our members two very precious assets: time and money. tents browsing with direct links to case and statutes, I think The best part is that members of the KBA will receive free that you will find these resources the perfect complement to access to Casemaker. Casemaker’s search engine is very user Casemaker! friendly, allowing beginners to quickly start conducting ef- fective searches and experienced researchers to make a quick Still Raising the Bar transition from other more costly legal research services. You may remember that the Kansas Bar Association and During the past year, the parent company of Casemaker, Kansas Bar Foundation have joined together to embark on Lawriter LLC, and the KBA have been hard at work assem- a historic campaign to raise funds to increase the permanent bling an extensive law library, which will become live on endowment of the KBF and to enlarge and enhance the head- Monday, Oct. 30. More information regarding the launch of quarters building of the KBA. Casemaker is described in the center-page spread of this issue The campaign — the first for the KBF in more than a quar- of The Journal. ter century — seeks a relatively modest $1.2 million dollars, Economic Survey of Kansas Lawyers Now Available and many law firms and individuals have already stepped for- ward to put us within reach of our goal, but we still need your Last October, the KBA invited members as well as non- help.