Tag: House Bill 460 (2017)

The Missouri House has passed a trio of bills meant to put an end to “venue shopping” in lawsuits, particularly in the St. Louis area.

Proponents said House Bills 460, 461, and 462 would stop the practice of attorneys to seek to have cases involving people not from Missouri, alleging injuries that didn’t happen in Missouri, and against companies not from Missouri, heard in St. Louis based on the belief they’d have a better chance of winning there.

“St. Louis has become the nation’s courtroom,” said the bills’ sponsor, Representative Glen Kolkmeyer (R-Odessa).

Kolkmeyer said there are more than 8,400 plaintiffs from outside of Missouri involved in 140 cases pending in St. Louis.

“That’s overcrowding our dockets, we have judges coming from all over the state to fill in the St. Louis Courts, and it’s time that we pull back a little bit,” said Kolkmeyer.

He said the bills aim to make sure more such cases are heard in venues more appropriate to their circumstances.

Each of the bills passed with 97 or more votes, but they faced bipartisan opposition.  Parkville Republican Nick Marshall said it would hurt Missourians’ ability come together across county lines in cases against large companies.

“We have swept up into this bill someone that we didn’t meant to sweep up into this bill, and that’s the small plaintiffs throughout rural Missouri that have a common, large-pocketed defendant – either corporation or deep-pocketed insurance company,” said Marshall.  “We have these little Davids out there that cannot fight Goliath by themselves.”

The bills are the latest in a series of courtroom reforms passed out of the House this session, including new standards for who would be considered an expert witness in a trial.

Those bills have been sent to the state Senate.