Post-trial hearing scheduled in BK&M case

The parties in a lawsuit involving developer BK&M LLC's plans for the corner of Sunshine Street and National Avenue will wait at least another week for a verdict in the case.

A post-trial argument hearing has been scheduled Feb. 14, according to Missouri Case.net records. Bryan Wade of Husch Blackwell LLP, the plaintiffs' attorney, said via email this morning that the hearing would essentially be closing arguments in the case.

After Greene County Circuit Court Judge Derek Ankrom presided over a Jan. 18 trial in the case, he gave two weeks for the parties' attorneys to file any proposed summaries for him to consider in his verdict. He did not indicate a planned date for his decision at that time, and the latest Case.net filing also does not list a date for the verdict.

At issue is whether BK&M – represented at trial by partner Ralph Duda and his attorney, Bryan Fisher of Neale & Newman LLP – can move forward with its commercial development plans at the northwest corner of Sunshine Street and National Avenue, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. A group of University Heights neighborhood residents have sued to block the development on the grounds of deed restrictions that were implemented when the neighborhood was created 100 years ago.

On the trial day, the attorneys declined to give closing arguments.