Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Missouri

Appeals

In a standard liability lawsuit, after an appeal, should case go back to original judge in the case. Second, why would the term OSHA not be permitted to be used in the presentation of evidence. Finally, should the defense be permitted to say experts are hired by the plaintiff and not to say who is paying for the defense (i.e. saying that their client is the General Contractor and when in fact their client was State Farm Insurance, the general contractor had filed bankruptcy to remove himself from financial obligation). The last point was also not mentionable in court.


Asked on 8/30/07, 10:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Anthony Smith LawSmith

Re: Appeals

You asked wonderful questions. They are just the kind that litigants should ask of their attorney. If you have legal represetnation, you already have someone to answer the questions you asked. It is not proper for an attorney to advise the cleint of another. If you are asking for asecond opinion, you may not have provided enough information to give a specific answer. Here are some genral answers. If a case goes up on appeal and is "remanded" it is sent back to the same court, absent extreme situations.

There is no general ban on any words or grouping of letters, characters or numerals. There are thngs said on the record in court that would be wholly indecent and perhaps dangerous if uttered elsewhere. That is part of why we have courts. If a term such as OSHA is not relevant to the issue being presented, and is more likely prejudicial than probative, it may be excluded or limited.

The insurance lobby has many more dollars and agents than those represeting insureds. Therefore, there are restrictions when the fact of insurace coverage for a defendnat can be made known to a jury. The argument for this is that juries will more likely find for the plaintiff or grant them a larger judgment if they think an insurance company is paying rather than the defendant.

Unless the bankruptcy of a general contractor would help the trier of fact (judge or jury)decide the issues, there would be little need to mention it in a trial.

I hope this helps clear things up for you a little. Do not rely on these general comments to yrou dtriment. Consult with counsel that knows the details of you case before making any decitions.

Good Luck

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Answered on 8/31/07, 11:25 am


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