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ANTI-FORUM SHOPPING: Limitation on Joinder in Missouri on the Horizon

The Missouri Legislature introduced bills during its most recent legislative session to curtail forum shopping of class action plaintiffs in Missouri. This anti-forum shopping legislation, while not ultimately enacted into law, would have limited out-of-state plaintiffs from joining lawsuits involving local claims against out-of-state defendants. Current statutes permit these out-of-state plaintiffs to join such claims for a nominal fee, thus allowing them to use Missouri’s court resources and taxpayer dollars to pursue out-of-state defendants for injuries that did not occur in Missouri. House Bill 1578 and Senate Bill 546 attempted to eliminate this problem by limiting both the joinder of plaintiffs and defendants in a single action.

Current Missouri law permits joinder of plaintiffs if they assert a joint right to relief or if their claims arise out of the same transaction or occurrence and if there is any question of law or fact common to all of the joined plaintiffs. Likewise, Missouri law permits joinder of defendants if a claim is asserted against the defendants jointly or if an asserted right to relief arises out of the same transaction or occurrence and there is a question of law of fact common to all of the defendants in the action. The proposed legislation sought to limit joinder by precluding joinder of out-of-state injury claims arising out of separate incidents, or purchases of the same product or service in a single action.

The bills further sought to limit joinder of two or more plaintiffs in an action to only those circumstances in which each plaintiff can establish proper venue independently, except that plaintiffs may be joined in actions in counties with populations below certain specified thresholds. Joinder of two or more defendants in a single action would likewise be prohibited under the proposed legislation unless the plaintiff could establish proper venue and personal jurisdiction as to each defendant, independent of plaintiff’s claims against other defendants. If personal jurisdiction and proper venue could not be independently established as to a particular defendant, that defendant would be deemed misjoined and could only be joined if each party to the action waived objection to the joinder. All claims against a misjoined plaintiff or defendant would have been severable from the action and either transferred to a county where proper venue exists, or if venue is not proper in any county in Missouri or personal jurisdiction does not exist, the claims would be dismissed without prejudice.

Ultimately, H.B. 1578 passed the House, but the similar Senate version, S.B. 546, after appearing on the Senate floor multiple times, failed to pass before the end of this year’s legislative session. While this legislation may be reintroduced next year, if it is enacted with the same provisions as the proposed legislation this session, it will not be retroactive and thus would not affect any lawsuits pending at the time of the legislation’s enactment.