IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI AT INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI SAMUELK. LIPARI (Assignee of Dissolved Medical Supply Chain, Inc. Plaintiff, vs. NOVATION, LLC, et ai., Defendants. Case No. Division. 0816-CV04217 02 DEFENDANT LATHROP & GAGE L.C.'S RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO STRIKE DEFENDANT LATHROP & GAGE L.C.'S SECOND THROUGH NINETEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES UNDER RULE 55.08 COMES NOW Defendant, Lathrop & Gage L.C. ("Lathrop" and for its Response to Plaintiffs Motion to Strike Defendant Lathrop & Gage L.c. 's Second Through Nineteenth Affirmative Defenses Under Rule 55.08 as follows: Lathrop fully complied with Mo. R. Civ. P. 55.08 in its answer to plaintiffs petition and assertion of affirmative defenses. Because of the lack of clarity in plaintiffs petition, Lathrop asserted affirmative defenses to the best of its knowledge as of the point in time in which it drafted its answer. Lathrop had to review 108 pages and over 700 paragraphs of allegations against 27 separate defendants to determine which allegations applied to Lathrop and then respond accordingly. Lathrop did so in good faith and with great difficulty due to the length and often nonsensical nature of the petition. For example, plaintiffs motion to strike Lathrop's affirmative defenses contains a paragraph not even remotely related to the motion or to allegations against Lathrop & Gage: The plaintiff, like the citizens of Missouri and its courts, has been ill served by the policy ofthe Missouri Board of Bar Governors to support CC 2008798v2
Kansas' racial discrimination, denial of due process, rampant extrinsic fraud for the purposes of rigging the outcomes of Kansas cases and defeating the supremacy of federal law for private profit. A policy incredulously upheld by the Missouri Board of Bar Governors in the name of reciprocal admissions and no doubt to avoid disbarment or other reprisals in Kansas that await any Missouri attorney helping the plaintiff. Plaintiffs Motion to Strike Affirmative Defenses at p. 4. Lathrop should not be expected to respond to allegations not even drafted in coherent and complete sentences, particularly those not directed at Lathrop but drafted merely to air some unknown and unrelated grievance of plaintiff. Should further pleading or discovery enable Lathrop to plead its affirmative defenses more clearly, Lathrop will certainly endeavor to do so. Until that time, however, Lathrop must preserve its affirmative defenses to the best of its ability with consideration of the lengthy and unclear petition filed by plaintiff. WHEREFORE, Lathrop & Gage L.C. respectfully requests that this Court enter an Order denying Plaintiffs Motion to Strike Defendant Lathrop & Gage L.C.'s Second Through Nineteenth Affirmative Defenses Under Rule 55.08. Respectfully subniitted, Dated: May 27, 2008 LATHROP & GAGE i,c By: William G. B~ck (26849 Peter F. Daniel (33798 J. Alison Auxter (59079 2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 2800 Kansas City, Missouri 64108-2684 Telephone: (816 292-2000 Telecopier: (816 292-2001 ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT LATHROP & GAGE L.C. CC 2008798v2 2
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a copy of the above and foregoing was served, by First Class United States mail, postage prepaid, on the following parties of record this 2ih day of May 2008: Samuel K. Lipari 297 NE Bayview Lee's Summit, MO 64064 816-365-1306 Plaintiff, pro se Novation LLC, Defendant 125 E. John Carpenter Freeway Suite 1400 Irving, TX 75062 Neoforma, Inc., Defendant 3061 Zanker Road San Jose, CA 95134 GHX LLC, Defendant 1315 W. Century Drive Louisville, CO 80027 Robert J. Zollars, Defendant 525 Race Street San Jose, CA 95126 Volunteer Hospital Association, Defendant 220 E. Las Colinas Blvd. Irving, TX 75039 VHA Mid-America LLC, Defendant c/o The Corporation Company 515 South Kansas Avenue Topeka, KS 66603 Curt Nonomaque, Defendant President and CEO VHA, Inc. 220 E. Las Colinas Blvd. Irving, TX 75039 Thomas F. Spindler, Defendant Area Senior VO VHA Mid America 8500 West 110th Street, Ste. 118 Overland Park, KS 66210 Robert H. Bezanson, Defendant President/CEO Coxhealth 1423 North Jefferson Springfield, MO 65802 Gary Duncan, Defendant President CEO Freeman Health 1102 W. 32 nd Street Joplin, MO 64804 Maynard Oliverius, Defendant President and Chief Executive Officer Stormont -Vail HealthCare 1500 SW 1OthAvenue Topeka, KS 66604 Sandra VanTrease, Defendant Group President BJC Healthcare 4444 Forest Park Avenue St. Louis, MO 63108 Charles V. Robb, Defendant Saint Luke's Health System 10920 Elm Avenue Kansas City, MO 64134 Michael Terry, Defendant President/ Chief Officer Salina Regional Health Center 400 South Santa Fe Salina, KS 67401 CC 2008798v2 3
University Healthsystem Consortium, Defendant 2001 Spring Road, Suite 700 Oak Brook, IL 60523-1890 Robert J. Baker, Defendant President/CEO ofuhc 2001 Spring Road Suite 700 Oak Brook, IL 60523 Jerry A. Grundhofer, Defendant Chairman of US Bancorp, Inc. 800 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55402 Richard K. Davis, Defendant President/CEO of UN Bancorp 800 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55402 Stormont-Vail Healthcare Inc., Defendant c/o Michael Lummis RA 1500 Southwest Tenth Avenue Topeka, KS 66604 Shugart Thomson and Kilroy PC, Defendant c/o STK Registered Agent Inc. 120 W. 12thStreet, Ste. 1800 Kansas City, MO 64105 Michael J. Thompson, Esq. Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP 4801 Main Street, Suite 1000 Kansas City, MO 64112 Andrew Cecere, Defendant Chief Financial Officer 800 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55402 The Piper Jaffray Companies, Defendant 1 Hallbrook Place, Suite 310 11150 Overbrook Road Kansas City, KS 66211 Andrew S. Duff, Defendant 1 Hallbrook Place, Suite 310 11150 Overbrook Road Kansas City, KS 66211 Cox Health Care Services of the Ozarks Inc., Defendant c/o Robert H. Bezanson 1423N. Jefferson Avenue Springfield, MO 65802 Saint Luke's Health System, Inc., Defendant 10920 Elm Avenue Kansas City, MO 64134 CC 2008798v2 4
CC 2008798v2 An Attorney for Defendant Lathrop & Gage L.C.