Welcome to your daily briefing on legal developments in Missouri. Today we're covering 5 key stories including updates on missouri legal headlines, missouri legal updates, background & context. Let's dive in.
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The Online Filing application will undergo maintenance from September 21st, 2017 at 5:00 PM CDT to September 22nd, 2017 at 8:00 AM CDT.
This downtime may impact filing processes for legal professionals in Missouri, so planning accordingly is advised.
The Mississippi Bar Association page provides a concise overview along with contact details and a website link.
This resource is essential for legal professionals in MS seeking information about the Bar Association.
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A consistently followed retention policy provides a defense against spoliation claims when documents are destroyed in the ordinary course before litigation was anticipated. Without a policy, every routine deletion looks like targeted destruction in hindsight.
Adverse-inference instructions arising from spoliation routinely turn winnable cases into losses. A documented policy, consistently applied, is the cleanest defense available.
The clock can pause for: (1) the defendant being out of state in some jurisdictions, (2) the plaintiff being a minor or under disability, (3) the defendant fraudulently concealing the cause of action. The clock does NOT pause for: settlement negotiations, insurance correspondence, or the plaintiff being unaware of the legal theory.
Misreading tolling is the most common malpractice claim against general civil litigators. The defenses are routinely lost on motion to dismiss before discovery even opens.
A preservation (litigation hold) letter is appropriate as soon as litigation is reasonably anticipated, not just after a complaint is filed. The letter should identify the matter, the document categories at issue, and the recipient's preservation duty. Failure to send one is the leading evidence of spoliation in subsequent motion practice.
Sanctions for spoliation can include adverse-inference instructions, monetary fines, and in severe cases default judgment. The cost of issuing a hold letter is one paralegal hour.
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