On Monday, the Missouri Supreme Court issued an order sustaining Johnson & Johnson’s (“J&J”) last-minute Petition for writ of prohibition to stay the trial in Vickie Forrest et al. v. Johnson & Johnson et al., Cause No.1522-CC00419-01, pending in the in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri. Although the Supreme Court sets forth no reasoning for the stay in its one paragraph en banc order, the trial, which was set to start on January 22, 2019, will not take place until the Court weighs in on J&J’s argument that conducting a single trial of multiple claims from multiple Plaintiffs – most of whom had potentially been improperly joined – is unfair to the defendants and even potentially in violation of J&J’s constitutional due process rights. State ex rel. Johnson & Johnson et al. v. The Honorable Rex M. Burlison, Cause No. SC97637. The Forrest case is one of an onslaught of talc cancer cases brought in the St. Louis City Circuit Court on behalf of multiple plaintiffs against J&J. Forrest, and twelve other women, are alleging that their different subtypes of ovarian or gynecological cancers were caused by their use of J&J’s talcum powder products, which allegedly contained asbestos.
Missouri
Toxic Tort Monitor – September 26, 2018
September 26, 2018 | Editor: Jen Dlugosz | Assistant Editor: Natalie Holden |
New Developments |
Fifth District Finds Personal Jurisdiction Lacking Over Ford in Long-Awaited Jeffs Decision By Andrew Hahn The Fifth District Appellate Court issued its long-awaited decision in Jeffs v. Ford Motor Company recently finding that Ford Motor Company was not “at home” in |
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Toxic Tort Monitor – June 18, 2018
June 18, 2018 | Editor: Jen Dlugosz | Assistant Editor: Natalie Holden |
New Developments |
New Tool for Non-Resident Defendants Seeking to Challenge Personal Jurisdiction in Illinois By Dominque Savinelli If you are a non-resident corporate defendant in Cook County, Illinois, you should become familiar with Campbell v. Acme Insulations, Inc., as it will undoubtedly |
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Toxic Tort Monitor – April 16, 2018
April 16, 2018 | Editor: Jen Dlugosz | Assistant Editors: Anne McLeod and Natalie Holden |
New Developments |
Cook County Circuit Court Denies Personal Jurisdiction Motion in Asbestos Case By Anne McLeod The Circuit court in Cook County, Illinois has recently clarified one of the limitations on which it applies personal jurisdiction and venue protections to |
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Toxic Tort Monitor – March 14, 2018
March 14, 2018 | Editor: Jen Dlugosz | Assistant Editors: Anne McLeod and Natalie Holden |
New Developments |
Precluding a Second Bite at the Apple; Federal District Court Grants Summary Judgment on Basis of Doctrine of Collateral Estoppel By Tierra Jones In the interest of justice and courtroom efficiency, res judicata aims to prevent parties |
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Toxic Tort Monitor – February 12, 2018
February 12, 2018 | Editor: Jen Dlugosz | Assistant Editors: Anne McLeod and Natalie Holden |
New Developments |
Which Came First: Subject Matter or Personal Jurisdiction? By Mary Kate Mullen Two recent Eastern District of Missouri cases examined the same issue, yet the court reached opposite results. In Lewis v. Johnson & Johnson and Jinright v. |
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Toxic Tort Monitor – January 17, 2018
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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Product Liability Monitor – December 4, 2017
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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Missouri Appellate Court Reverses Verdict in Johnson & Johnson Talc Case
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.
Product Liability Monitor – October 11, 2017
October 11, 2017 |
New Developments |
America’s Opioid Epidemic: Who Will Be Held Accountable? By Ally Schwab In recent years America has seen an increasing number of opioid-involved deaths and is currently experiencing what the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) describes as an “opioid epidemic.” This crisis has been devastating to many communities and individuals, and |
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