What you need to know about Missouri's current product liability laws giving personal injury lawyers legal cover for filing suit against every business involved in an end product’s supply chain.
Missouri’s current product liability laws unfairly expose every seller in a product’s chain of distribution to liability, as personal injury plaintiffs frequently name each seller who touched the product during its distribution in their lawsuits. These lawsuits are causing innocent retailers unnecessary legal defense costs. Although Missouri enacted a statute in 1987 to limit the liability of product sellers, the protection it provides contains numerous, broad exceptions. At least sixteen other states have recognized the impact and enacted statutory shields for retailers and dealerships.
Missouri places no limit on the age of a product that may form the basis of a personal injury lawsuit. Even though a product may have been manufactured 15 or even 25 years ago, Missouri still expects businesses to respond to lawsuits and face potential liability when someone is injured. A statute of repose to cap the age of a product that can spawn a lawsuit would provide critical protection to sellers. Legislative protections to terminate claims that an old product is defective or unsafe are common and have been enacted in approximately 21 other states. Missouri should join the list.
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