The Missouri Senate has given first-round approval to a bill that would alter Missouri’s venue and joinder laws — in a way far different from what lawmakers had envisioned just two weeks ago.

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State lawmakers have been pushing for three years to overhaul Missouri’s venue and joinder laws, citing the large number of mass torts in St. Louis featuring mostly out-of-state plaintiffs suing out-of-state companies. As one lawyer put it, St. Louis had become “America’s courtroom.”

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Lawmakers returned to Jefferson City on Jan. 9 for the 100th session of the Missouri General Assembly. It promises to be a very different session than last year’s. Most notably, lawmakers are working with a new governor, Mike Parson, who succeeded former Gov. Eric Greitens last year after a series of scandals led Greitens to resign on June 1.

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The court last Wednesday heard arguments in a constitutional challenge to a statute that says plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases must get a doctor’s expert opinion at the outset of filing of their case.

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What defense lawyers seem not to realize is that tort reform hasn’t worked for 25 years. And large verdicts may be the most effective drivers in making health care safer.

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Can you change a constitutional right without actually amending the constitution? Sponsors of a bill under consideration in a Missouri Senate committee are trying to find out.

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Buried in the White House’s federal budget plan is a proposal to encourage states to reform their medical malpractice laws.

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St. Louis County Circuit Judge Stephen Goldman created a stir when he declared the medical bills statute of Missouri’s tort reform law unconstitutional. In an order granting the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial, Goldman in August said the law ...

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After an 11-day legal malpractice trial in St. Louis Circuit Court, a jury ruled against St. Louis attorney Daniel Finney Jr. on Sept. 8 and ordered him to pay $2 million to the family of a killed worker. Finney may ...

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President's health care speech proposes state-level changes

Curbing medical malpractice lawsuits is a leading goal of business groups and Republicans, and President Barack Obama on Wednesday night during a joint session of Congress said he is pursuing a pilot project designed to prevent doctors from practicing "defensive medicine" by ordering unnecessary tests for fear of being sued.

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Pace of law firm breakups accelerates

Two years after making partner at Langdon & Emison, Rob Sullivan (pictured) couldn't see a way to advance. Sullivan, 40, figured the only way he could have more of a stake was to get out of the firm. So he did, along with three Langdon & Emison associates. They joined with Jose Bautista as name partners in a new Kansas City plaintiffs' firm. The July law firm split was the fifth Missouri Lawyers Media has reported since November. That compares to two reported in the previous 12 months.

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