Hopping on the Missouri Bandwagon? Not so Fast Out-of-State Litigants.

ABSTRACT: In Senate Bill 7, the Missouri legislature seeks to amend venue and joinder laws, to prevent out of state plaintiffs from litigating their cases in an inappropriate venue.

In an effort to overhaul Missouri’s current venue and joinder laws, Missouri lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 7, aimed at restricting non-Missouri plaintiffs from joining their claims in the same lawsuit, with those of a Missouri resident, even though the non-residents’ claims have no legal nexus to Missouri. The most immediate and prominent impact of the bill, if enacted, would be upon mass tort litigation. The bill also limits the use of joinder in product liability cases, prohibiting joining claims arising out of separate purchases or separate incidents related to the same product. 

Following its introduction, Senate Bill 7 was revised to adopt the February 13, 2019 Missouri Supreme Court ruling in State ex rel. Johnson & Johnson v. Burlison. The Missouri Senate subsequently passed the revised version on March 4, 2019.  The Johnson & Johnson case dealt with the talcum powder litigation filed in St. Louis City Circuit Courts, involving many plaintiffs with both non-Missouri and Missouri residents, and held that plaintiffs cannot use joinder rules to establish venue in a jurisdiction where it otherwise would not exist. 

Senate Bill 7 moved onto the House, which recently considered similar legislation. See House Bill 231.  As of March 6, 2019, the Senate bill was read and referred to the Judiciary Committee. 

Proponents of the legislation say that it will help address “a crisis” in Missouri’s courts, where out of state plaintiffs have flocked to litigate their claims in perceived plaintiff-friendly venues, such as St. Louis City (which has been dubbed a “Judicial Hellhole” by the defense bar); and Jackson County, which includes the greater Kansas City area.  The Senate bill’s sponsor, Ed Emery, notes that out of the 13,252 mass tort plaintiffs involved in cases being heard in St. Louis City, only 1,035 are Missouri residents.

Proponents of the bill say that its passage will also have significant economic benefits, because Missouri taxpayers are currently paying for out of state plaintiffs to clog the Missouri courts with claims that have nothing to do with Missouri, thus taking up precious judicial resources that would better be used to adjudicate the claims of Missouri citizens.  Opponents of Senate Bill 7 primarily argue that it makes sense to have groups of plaintiffs, who all purportedly suffered similar injuries, to bring their claims together in the same court and lawsuit. 

The current bill contains “grandfather” provisions, making the legislation inapplicable to any action that meets two criteria:  (1) the action is pending as of February 13, 2019 (when the Supreme Court decided Johnson & Johnson), and (2) the action is set for trial on or before August 28, 2019 (the date on which the new legislation is scheduled to take effect.).