Critical pieces of legislation that could take away Missouri citizens’ access to courts are quietly making their way through Jefferson City as headlines remain on Gov. Eric Greitins’ legal battles.
Langdon & Emison partner Kent Emison and his client Brett Adams were featured in a recent investigative report on Senate Bill 596 proposed by Sen. Jeanie Riddle (R-Callaway County). If passed, the legislation would enact a 10-year statute of repose, preventing anyone injured by a product older than 10 years from filing lawsuit against the maker of the defective product.
Adams lost his 16-year old daughter in a tragic motor vehicle crash involving a defective guardrail. Emison said the proposed legislation protects large corporations and limits options for people who are seriously injured or killed by defective and dangerous products.
Under current law, a client must prove a product was defective or poorly manufactured at the time it was produced; for example, if a motorist is injured by a 20-year old airbag, the injured party must prove it was defectively designed or manufactured, regardless of how old it is. Lawsuits cannot be brought against a manufacturer simply because a product is old.
“If this law passes, I’m going to get a call from a family and I’m going to have to tell them Missouri politicians passed this law and there’s no responsibility to this corporation after 10 years,” said Emison.
The investigative report aired on KCTV-5 in the Kansas City metropolitan region.
About Kent Emison
Kent Emison is a founding partner of Langdon & Emison where he dedicates his practice to litigation in product liability, trucking and motor vehicle accidents, and other cases involving personal injury and wrongful death. Kent has served as lead trial counsel in cases that resulted in multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements and has handled cases across the United States. He is a fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a frequent lecturer to bar associations and trial lawyer groups nationwide.
About Langdon & Emison
Langdon & Emison is recognized as one of the nation’s leading personal injury law firms, having taken on some of the world’s largest corporations on behalf of injured people and their families in courtrooms from coast to coast. Langdon & Emison represented the plaintiff in Baker vs. General Motors, a landmark lawsuit where for the first time evidence was admitted into court proving an automaker’s deliberate choice of profits over human safety. With offices in Lexington and Kansas City (Mo.), St. Louis, and Chicago, the firm has earned a national reputation as a leader in auto defect cases, trucking accidents and a full array of personal injury litigation.