U.S. Supreme Court Tightens Rules on Class-Action Lawsuits

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that makes it more difficult for plaintiffs’ attorneys to look for friendly locations for their lawsuits, a practice known as forum shopping, writes the Washington Post.

The 8-to-1 majority led by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. reversed a lower-court decision on class-action lawsuits, ruling that hundreds of defendants who sued Bristol-Myers Squibb in California over injuries allegedly associated with the blood-thinning drug Plavix could not sue in that state because they were not residents.

In light of the ruling, a Missouri judge granted a mistrial in Swann v. Johnson & Johnson, a “pivotal trial over Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder.” In its motion, J&J sought a mistrial  as many of the defendants in the case are not from Missouri, according to the National Law Journal.