| January 17, 2018 |
| New Developments |
| A Review of 2017 Personal Jurisdiction Decisions By Taylor Concannon In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court in cases such as BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California continued the trend that began in Goodyear and Daimler and reaffirmed its limits on personal jurisdiction |
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On January 10, 2018, the Federal Circuit added Finjan, Inc. v. Blue Coat Sys., Inc., No. 2016-2520 (Fed. Cir.), to its Enfish jurisprudence and upheld the subject matter eligibility of a software patent directed to virus-scanning downloadable app code for known and suspected malware. As construed, the invention claims novel behavioral-based analysis of source code to identify; detection of potentially dangerous files results in creation of a new file attached to the app code which is then evaluated by the destination computer to determine whether to allow the app to be downloaded.
| December 4, 2017 |
| New Developments |
| Missouri Adopts Daubert: What It Means in Product Liability Cases By Theresa Mullineaux In March 2017, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens signed House Bill 153, which amended Mo. Rev. Stat. § 490.065, and effectively adopted Daubert standards for Missouri cases, effective in August 2017. As a result, Missouri now follows |
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| November 2, 2017 |
| New Developments |
| Mr. Gorsuch Goes to Washington: Is Chevron Endangered? By Tierra Jones Since the Supreme Court’s 1984 holding in Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council (“Chevron”), courts have looked to federal administrative agencies in interpreting regulatory statutes. Under this doctrine, commonly referred to as “Chevron deference,” courts adopt |
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On October 17, 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Missouri reversed a $72 million judgment that was previously rendered against Johnson & Johnson, relying on a United States Supreme Court decision that was issued earlier this year. In June, the Supreme Court of the United States narrowed the scope of specific personal jurisdiction in Bristol Myers Squib Co. v. Superior Court of California, San Francisco County, 137 S.Ct. 1773 (2017), holding that that each plaintiff in a multi-plaintiff case must establish personal jurisdiction over the defendant for his or her individual claim. Applying the Supreme Court’s decision, the Court of Appeals reversed the plaintiff’s verdict that was issued in February 2016 in Estate of Fox v. Johnson & Johnson, No. ED104580.
Article I Section 22 of the Missouri Constitution holds that litigants have a right to trial by a fair and impartial jury of twelve qualified jurors. A qualified juror has been defined as one who is “in a position to enter the jury box disinterested and with an open mind, free from bias or prejudice.” Catlett v. Ill. Cent. Gulf R.R. 793 S.W.2d 351, 353 (Mo. Banc 1990). The Missouri Supreme Court held earlier this month in Thaddeus Thomas et. al v. Mercy Hospitals East Communities, et. al, No. SC96034 that “The trial court is in the best position to evaluate a potential juror and is afforded broad discretion in determining whether the potential juror is ultimately qualified to serve.” The Court provided wide discretion to the trial judge’s ruling regarding the impartiality of a prospective juror.
The United States Supreme Court recently narrowed the scope of both specific and general jurisdiction in two seminal cases, Bristol-Myers Squib Co. v. Superior Court of California, San Francisco County, 137 S.Ct. 1773 (2017) and BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell, 137 S.Ct 1549 (2017).
| June 9, 2017 |
| New Developments |
| Lung Cancer Without Asbestosis? The Effects of Smoking By Mark Zellmer In the medical and scientific literature, a finding of asbestosis is clear evidence that asbestos at least contributed to cause a person’s lung cancer. Many medical experts regard a finding of asbestosis as essential to any finding that asbestos |
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| May 10, 2017 |
| New Developments |
| Discovery Sanctions Sanctioned By Alan Hoffman On April 18, 2017 the United States Supreme Court did something unusual: it decided a discovery issue. In Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Haeger (2017), it reversed a $2.7 million sanctions order for bad faith discovery misconduct. And in Sec. Nat’l Bank |
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| April 10, 2017 |
| New Developments |
| I Like It, But Do I Trust It? Drivers Weigh In on Autonomous Vehicle Technology By Shannon Peters The American Automobile Association (AAA) recently released the results of a survey of American drivers which yielded an interesting conclusion: Americans want autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies in their next vehicle, but they |
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