General Litigation

Nearly every civil claim needs four things, and a weakness in any one of them can end the matter regardless of how unfair the situation feels. There must be a duty the other side owed you — arising from a contract, a statute, or the general obligation not to harm others. There must be a breach of that duty. The breach must have caused your loss. And there must be damages a court can actually measure in money.

The fourth element defeats more claims than the other three combined. Missouri courts award compensation, not vindication. Frustration, wasted time, and the sense of having been treated badly are real, but they are not by themselves recoverable. Before you invest in litigation, the question to answer honestly is: what specific dollar figure did this cost me, and what document or witness proves it?

Two further questions matter as much as the merits. Is the claim timely? Missouri’s limitation periods are unforgiving, and a strong claim filed a week late is worth nothing. Is the defendant collectable? A judgment against a person or company with no assets and no insurance is a piece of paper. We assess both before recommending you spend anything.

At the consultation we tell you which of these elements is weakest in your particular facts, and what evidence would strengthen it. If the honest answer is that you do not have a viable claim, you will hear that — it costs you nothing and saves you a great deal.

Missouri sets different limitation periods for different claims, and identifying the right one is not always obvious because a single set of facts can support several theories with different deadlines. Filing after the period expires is normally an absolute bar, whatever the merits.

Ten years applies to actions upon any writing for the payment of money or property, under RSMo § 516.110. Written contracts, promissory notes, and similar instruments generally fall here. The same section carries a residual clause covering “actions for relief, not herein otherwise provided for.”

Five years applies under RSMo § 516.120 to oral and implied contracts, trespass on real estate, taking or injuring goods, and — importantly — “any other injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract.” Fraud also sits in this section with a distinctive rule: the cause of action is deemed not to accrue until the aggrieved party discovers the facts constituting the fraud, subject to a ten-year outer limit.

Two years applies under RSMo § 516.140 to libel, slander, injurious falsehood, assault, battery, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. This is the shortest common period and the one people miss most often — reputational harm frequently takes months to become apparent, by which time a meaningful part of the window has gone.

When the clock starts is litigated as often as which period applies. Some claims accrue on the wrongful act; others on discovery of the harm. If you are anywhere near a deadline, treat it as urgent — a limitation defence is one of the few arguments that requires no engagement with your facts at all.

Usually not, and this single fact reshapes the economics of most disputes. Missouri follows the American Rule: each party bears its own attorney fees regardless of who wins, unless a statute or a contract shifts them. A judgment for $20,000 after $18,000 of fees is close to a loss in practical terms, which is why the fee question belongs at the start of a case rather than the end.

Contractual fee-shifting is the most common exception. Many commercial agreements, leases, promissory notes, and consumer contracts contain a prevailing-party clause. Before assuming your case is uneconomic, read the agreement — that clause frequently changes the answer. It also cuts both ways: if you lose, you may owe the other side’s fees, and defendants with such a clause have real leverage.

Statutory fee-shifting exists in defined areas. The Missouri Merchandising Practices Act permits the court to award the prevailing party attorney fees “based on the amount of time reasonably expended,” under RSMo § 407.025. Where a consumer claim qualifies under the MMPA, it may be viable when the same facts framed as breach of contract would not be.

A caution worth stating plainly: courts award reasonable fees, not necessarily all fees incurred, and the amount is subject to the judge’s discretion and reduction. Fee-shifting improves the arithmetic of a case. It rarely makes cost irrelevant.

The MMPA is Missouri’s consumer protection statute and one of the more powerful tools available to an individual, because it reaches deception that ordinary contract law does not and because it allows for attorney fees and punitive damages. It is also considerably narrower than it was, following the 2020 reforms.

The threshold question is what the purchase was for. A private action is available to a person who purchases or leases merchandise primarily for personal, family or household purposes and suffers an ascertainable loss of money or property. Purchases made for a business — including through an LLC — generally fall outside the statute, which catches people out when a vehicle or equipment was bought in a company name.

The 2020 amendments added three requirements, set out in RSMo § 407.025. You must show that you acted as a reasonable consumer would in light of all the circumstances; that the practice complained of would mislead a reasonable person into the transaction; and that your individual damages can be established “with sufficiently definitive and objective evidence to allow the loss to be calculated with a reasonable degree of certainty.”

That third requirement does the most work. Claims once framed loosely around disappointment now fail unless the plaintiff can put an evidenced number on the loss — typically the difference between what was paid and what the thing was actually worth. The Missouri Bar’s review of the reform’s first two years is a useful plain-language account of how courts have applied it.

If the facts fit, the MMPA remains worth pursuing. Where they do not, the same conduct is sometimes actionable as fraud or breach of warranty instead, and we will tell you which theory your facts actually support.

Rarely, and the 2020 statutory changes made the path materially harder. Punitive damages punish conduct rather than compensate loss, and Missouri now reserves them for a narrow band of behaviour.

The standard is demanding. Under RSMo § 510.261, a claimant must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant “intentionally harmed the plaintiff without just cause or acted with a deliberate and flagrant disregard for the safety of others.” Clear and convincing is a higher bar than the preponderance standard governing the rest of a civil case — ordinary negligence, or even serious carelessness, will not reach it.

The procedure changed too, and it surprises people. No initial pleading may contain a claim for punitive damages. A party wanting to pursue them must later file a written motion supported by affidavits or discovery material showing reasonable grounds, and that motion must be filed no later than 120 days before the final pretrial conference (or the trial date where none is scheduled). The court then decides whether a jury could reasonably find the standard met.

The practical effect is that punitive damages are earned through discovery rather than asserted at the outset. It also means the 120-day deadline has to be diarised early in a case where punitive exposure is realistic, because missing it forecloses the claim entirely.

For smaller disputes, often yes — and we will say so rather than take an engagement that does not serve you.

Missouri’s small claims division handles claims for money up to $5,000. You may represent yourself, procedure is simplified, and filing costs are modest. A person may file no more than twelve claims in a calendar year. The Missouri Courts’ small claims division page carries the current forms and local procedures.

Two limits decide most cases. First, small claims may only be used for money — it cannot order the return of goods or property, so a dispute about getting something back rather than being paid for it belongs elsewhere. Second, the informality that makes it accessible also means limited discovery. If proving your case depends on documents or records the other side holds and will not hand over voluntarily, small claims may not get you to them.

Where a claim exceeds $5,000 you can still choose to waive the excess and stay in small claims — sometimes a rational trade of value for speed. Whether that is sensible depends on how much you are giving up and how much the formal route would cost to pursue.

Cost depends far more on the opponent than on the claim. A matter that settles after a well-drafted demand letter may run to a few thousand dollars. The same claim against a party who contests every routine motion, resists discovery, and forces depositions can reach the tens of thousands.

We bill hourly with written estimates, keep detailed time records, and tell you when the scope changes rather than presenting it in an invoice afterwards. You get an assessment of likely cost before engagement, and it is expressed as a range with the assumptions stated, because anyone quoting a single confident figure at the outset is guessing.

Court costs are separate from attorney fees and are generally much smaller — filing fees, service of process, deposition transcripts, and where a case needs one, expert witnesses. Experts are the item most likely to move a budget materially, and we flag early whether your matter is likely to need one.

The most useful cost control is scope. Many disputes can be pursued in stages — demand first, suit only if it fails — so that you decide whether to spend the next increment with better information than you have today.

Most civil matters resolve before trial, through negotiated settlement, mediation, or a dispositive motion such as summary judgment. Trials are the exception rather than the rule, and that has been true for a long time.

We nonetheless prepare every case as though it will be tried, for two reasons. First, cases that look certain to settle sometimes do not, and a file prepared only for settlement is a poor position to be caught in. Second — and more practically — settlement value tracks trial readiness. An opponent who can see the case is documented, the witnesses are lined up, and counsel is willing to try it values the matter very differently from one who suspects otherwise.

If your case does reach trial, we tell you well in advance what that involves: the preparation required from you, the time commitment, and the realistic range of outcomes. Nobody should arrive at a trial date having been told only that it probably would not happen.

Discovery is the formal exchange of information between parties before trial, governed by the Missouri Rules of Civil Procedure. It is where most cases are actually won, lost, or settled.

It has four main instruments. Interrogatories are written questions the other side must answer under oath. Requests for production compel documents, contracts, emails, texts, and records. Requests for admission ask a party to admit or deny specific facts, narrowing what has to be proved. Depositions are sworn testimony taken outside court, transcribed, and usable at trial.

The delay comes from structure rather than inattention. Each instrument carries its own response deadline. Disputes about what must be produced are resolved by motion, which means briefing and a hearing. Depositions must accommodate the schedules of witnesses, both counsel, and a court reporter. A single contested document request can add two months.

What you can do to shorten it: preserve everything relevant as soon as a dispute becomes likely, including text messages and social media, and respond promptly when we ask for material. Delay on our side of the file is the only part of the timeline within our control, and it compounds.

Frequently, and it is usually worth doing on its merits rather than merely because a court directs it. Many Missouri courts require the parties to attempt mediation before a trial setting.

Mediation puts a neutral third party — often a retired judge or experienced litigator — in the room with a single job: finding terms both sides can live with. The mediator does not decide anything and cannot impose an outcome. Mediation is non-binding; you cannot be forced into a settlement you do not accept.

Its real advantage is candour. Communications in mediation are generally confidential and not admissible, which allows both sides to explore positions they could not safely put in a filing. It is also the first point at which many opponents hear an impartial assessment of their own weaknesses.

Preparation determines whether it works. Going in with a documented damages figure, a clear sense of your best and worst litigated outcomes, and a genuine settlement range resolves cases. Going in to repeat the pleadings does not.

Under the American Rule you generally will not owe the other side’s attorney fees — unless a contract between you contains a prevailing-party clause, or a statute shifts fees in that type of case. That is the first thing to check, because it is the difference between a bounded downside and an open-ended one.

You may be responsible for court costs, which are separate and typically far smaller: filing fees, service, and similar charges. A losing party may also face costs associated with certain procedural failures during the case.

There is also the cost of your own fees already spent, which is why we prefer staged engagements and honest interim assessments. If a case weakens after discovery, the right advice is often to settle or stop, and you should expect to hear that rather than to discover it at trial.

An adverse judgment can generally be appealed, but appeals are narrow: they address legal error, not disagreement with the jury’s view of the facts, and they add time and cost. We give you a realistic read on appellate prospects rather than an encouraging one.

Often, yes. We work with ARAG, LegalShield, MetLife Legal and other legal insurance carriers, and we coordinate with your plan directly so you are not left translating between us.

What matters is the specifics of your plan. Coverage differs sharply between carriers and between matter types — some plans cover consultation and document review only; others fund substantial litigation. Many treat a matter as covered only if it began after enrolment, so timing can decide the question.

Bring your plan documents, member number, or CaseAssist reference to the consultation. We will check what is covered before you commit to anything, and tell you plainly where coverage ends and your own funds begin.

For some matter types, particularly selected timeshare disputes, we may consider contingent or hybrid arrangements. Billing structure is discussed and documented at engagement.

Contingency only works where two conditions hold. The recovery must be large enough to fund the work at risk, and it must be collectable — a defendant with no assets and no insurance makes even a strong liability case uneconomic on contingency. Assessing collectability early is not pessimism; it is the difference between a judgment and a payment.

Hybrid arrangements — a reduced hourly rate plus a smaller success component — sometimes fit cases that suit neither pure model. Where that is the sensible structure, we will propose it.

Boundary disputes turn on documents rather than recollection, and the sequence matters. Start with the recorded deeds for both properties, the subdivision plat, and a current survey by a licensed Missouri land surveyor. A survey frequently resolves the disagreement outright, and it costs a fraction of litigation.

Where the line remains contested, a quiet title action asks the court to determine ownership definitively and produces a judgment that can be recorded — which is what actually fixes the problem, because an informal agreement between neighbours does not bind future owners.

Adverse possession may also arise. A claimant must generally show possession that is hostile, actual, open and notorious, exclusive, and continuous for the statutory period of ten years. Each element is a real hurdle, and a fence in the wrong place for a long time does not by itself transfer land. Related doctrines — acquiescence in a long-recognised boundary, or a prescriptive easement for a driveway or path — sometimes fit facts that adverse possession does not.

These disputes are worth resolving properly rather than living with, because an unresolved boundary or easement problem resurfaces at every sale, refinancing, and title search, usually at the least convenient moment.

Move quickly. Defamation carries a two-year limitation period under RSMo § 516.140, and reputational harm often takes months to surface, so a meaningful part of the window is frequently gone before anyone consults a lawyer.

The first step is evidence preservation, before anything else. Screenshot the material with visible URLs, dates, and usernames; capture the surrounding thread; and record where it appeared. Posts get deleted once a complaint is made, and a deleted post you cannot document is a claim you cannot prove.

The legal test is demanding. A statement must be a false assertion of fact, not opinion; it must be published to a third party; it must identify you; and it must cause damage. Opinion, however wounding, is generally not actionable — which is why “he is a fraud” and “in my view his work is poor” can have entirely different legal outcomes. Statements about public figures face a further heightened standard.

Remedies are not limited to suing the author. Platform reporting, takedown requests, and a demand letter often achieve removal faster and more cheaply than litigation, and we usually try them first. Where the damage is commercial and quantifiable, a claim may be worth pursuing — but the damages requirement is as real here as anywhere else.

Treat it as urgent. Being served starts a short, fixed deadline to respond, and it does not pause because you are still finding a lawyer. Failing to respond in time exposes you to default judgment — the court can enter judgment against you without hearing your side at all, and setting a default aside afterwards is difficult and not guaranteed.

Note the date you were served; the clock runs from that date, not from when you opened the envelope. Keep the summons and petition together and bring both, including the envelope where you still have it.

Do not contact the opposing party or their attorney to explain yourself. Anything you say can be used, and well-meant explanations routinely concede elements of a claim. If there is an insurer who might owe you a defence — homeowner’s, auto, business liability, or a legal plan — notify them immediately, because late notice can jeopardise coverage.

Preserve every document, email, and text touching the dispute, and turn off any automatic deletion. Destroying relevant material after litigation begins carries its own sanctions, entirely separate from the merits of the underlying case.