New Report: Trial Lawyers Inc. 2017

NEW YORK, NY  – In 2017 Harris Interactive surveyed 1,300 corporate litigators and senior executives for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform. Missouri’s state liability system ranked 49th out of 50. In a new report, MI senior fellow James Copland documents Missouri’s woeful litigation climate that burdens economic growth in the state.

Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act is a case in point. The Act purports to prohibit “deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, [or] unfair practice” in “trade or commerce.” However, a sweeping 2016 Missouri judicial decision broadened the definition of false claims under the act, leading to a flurry of class-action lawsuits against the manufacturers of movie-theater and Halloween candy favorites.  These lawsuits claim that the candy makers were engaged in “deceptive marketing” because their boxes weren’t filled to the brim with candy—notwithstanding that content weights clearly appeared on packaging.

Copland’s recommendations include:

• Reform the judicial selection process to restore its nexus with the political process.
• Amend the state’s venue and joinder laws to ensure that plaintiffs have a real connection to the area in which their cases will be tried.
• Reform the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act to, among other things, require a showing of actual injury caused by allegedly deceptive practices.

Missouri has taken many positive steps to arrest the state’s worst lawsuit abuse, but more needs to be done before it can shed its reputation as the “Sue Me” state.

Click here to read the full report.