Today, April 5, 2021, ATRA joined an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a petition for certiorari in a talcum powder case that initially resulted in an
Judicial Hellholes
This week, Johnson & Johnson requested the U.S. Supreme Court review a landmark talcum powder case which resulted in the
Judicial Hellholes
Activity in state legislatures across the country is starting to ramp up as legislators look to tackle a variety of
Judicial HellholesThe City of St. Louis Circuit Court is notorious for allowing blatant forum shopping and awarding excessive punitive damage awards.
Problems with the civil justice system in the “Show Me Your Lawsuits State,” mostly at the state supreme court level,
As Bloomberg has reported, City of St. Louis courts are known for “fast trials, favorable rulings, and big awards.” But by virtue of
The optimism for restoring balance in the City of St. Louis’s legal environment described in last year’s report quickly evaporated in 2018
The City of St. Louis is gaining a reputation as a favorite forum for those filing mass tort cases. According
The Missouri legislature adjourned on Friday, May 17, 2019, ending a session filled with mixed results. The legislature should be
Judicial HellholesThe Missouri Legislature adjourned on the evening of Friday, May 19, 2018, without passing significant legal reform legislation. Lawmakers gave
Judicial HellholesA Missouri appellate court yesterday reversed and vacated a $72 million verdict that was the first of four such controversial, multimillion-dollar verdicts rendered in the City of St. Louis Circuit Court in a series of scientifically groundless lawsuits claiming that the use of talcum powder causes ovarian cancer
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightMissouri Rising, a pro-business advocacy group helping to push needed civil justice reforms through the Show Me Your Lawsuits State’s legislature, began airing television ads this month which note the fact that ATRA’s latest Judicial Hellholes report named St. Louis as the nation’s #1 hellhole
Judicial HellholesAs both state and federal courts in recent years have created confusion by ruling differently on questions of personal jurisdiction (whether a state’s courts should have jurisdiction over cases involving various out-of-state elements), high courts in Missouri and Oregon last week hewed closer to longstanding tradition and appropriately ruled that claims alleging out-of-state injuries against out-of-state defendants doing little business there should be brought elsewhere
Points of LightLast week the Missouri Supreme Court doubled down on a horrible, anything-goes venue decision it made last fall by refusing to stay some 1,350 cases brought predominantly on behalf of out-of-state plaintiffs in St. Louis, the nation’s #1 Judicial Hellhole, which allege that talcum powder products cause ovarian cancer
Judicial HellholesMissouri’s newly minted, reform-minded Governor Eric Greitens delivered his first State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature in Jefferson City yesterday, declaring his commitment to enacting critical tort reforms as a means to improving both the state’s civil justice system and its economic prospects
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightA decision last week by the Supreme Court of Missouri effectively rolls out a “Show Me Your Lawsuits State” welcome mat for lawsuits by out-of-state plaintiffs against out-of-state defendants over alleged out-of-state injuries
The state’s notoriously weak venue law has long allowed plaintiffs’ lawyers to shop their cases to the friendliest courts. Now there is virtually nothing stopping plaintiff’s lawyers from picking their preferred judge and jury.
Judicial Hellholes
Owned and operated by personal injury lawyers, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon yesterday vetoed two bipartisan tort reform bills that could have helped make civil litigation a little more fair in his notorious Judicial Hellhole
Judicial HellholesAnother outlier verdict in the “Show Me Your Lawsuits State” this week serves to further Missouri’s growing reputation among the nation’s worst Judicial Hellholes
Judicial HellholesThe American Tort Reform Association today criticized Missouri State Senator Eric Schmitt’s continuing opposition to reform legislation aimed at reasonably limiting civil liability and thereby reducing the volume of meritless litigation that is costly to consumers and taxpayers and otherwise contributes to the state’s growing reputation as a “judicial hellhole”
Judicial HellholesApparently taking cues from the Supreme Court of Missouri, currently the sixth-ranked Judicial Hellhole, a Jackson County court this month rendered what is perhaps the most absurd plaintiff’s verdict thus far in 2015
Judicial HellholesIn the latest of several troubling decisions by the Missouri Supreme Court in recent years, it yesterday ignored both the will of “Show Me State” voters, as expressed through their elected representatives, and U.S. Supreme Court precedent on punitive damages
Judicial Hellholes