Judge Anderson of 3rd judicial district to sit with Kansas Supreme Court May 3

TOPEKA — Judge Richard Anderson of the 3rd judicial district has been appointed to sit with the Kansas Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in one case on the court's 9 a.m. docket Tuesday, May 3.

After hearing oral arguments, Anderson will join Supreme Court justices in their deliberations and opinion drafting.

"I am pleased that Judge Anderson is taking time from his duties in the 3rd judicial district to sit with the Supreme Court," said Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss. "It's a great help to our court and we look forward to his contributions deliberating this case."

Anderson has been a district judge since 1999 and he has presided over all types of cases in the trial court. Before he became a judge, Anderson had a private law practice in Topeka for 18 years. He is a graduate of Washburn University School of Law, and he has a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

"I am honored to be asked to serve with the Supreme Court for this case," Anderson said. "The Supreme Court has a very important responsibility in our system of justice, and I look forward to this experience."

All Supreme Court oral arguments are webcast live through the Watch Supreme Court Live! link in the right-hand column of the Kansas Judicial Branch website at www.kscourts.org.

The case Anderson will hear is the first one scheduled on the Supreme Court's 9 a.m. docket Tuesday, May 3:

Appeal No. No. 111,651: Steckline Communications v. Journal Broadcast Group of Kansas, Inc.

Sedgwick County: (Petition for Review) Steckline Communications, Inc., owns and operates a business known as Mid America Ag Network (MAAN), which produces and distributes news and information programming for broadcast over various radio stations. Steckline acquired MAAN's name, image, and business assets in 2005. Journal Broadcast owns six radio stations. Steckline provided content to some of these stations pursuant to the terms of a settlement agreement entered into by Journal and MAAN in 2003. Steckline filed a breach of contract action against Journal for damages caused by Journal's termination of the settlement agreement. The district court dismissed the case on the grounds that Steckline lacked standing to bring such a suit. Issues on review are whether Steckline has standing and was properly assigned MANN's rights in the settlement agreement and whether the district court erred in denying Steckline's motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of Journal's liability for breach of contract.