A few weeks ago, we
reported on another in a line of Missouri appellate decisions
rejecting the ability of Missouri courts to try the claims of
non-Missouri residents against non-Missouri manufacturers of baby
powder not used in Missouri. The next day a jury in the same trial
court awarded billions in a trial of 22 baby powder users. This was
all part of a long saga of litigation tourism to the Show Me
State.
It turns out that some plaintiffs prefer to go ever upwards with
their baby powder claims in New York state court. We are not
talking about New York residents suing in their friendly
neighborhood court, we are talking about litigation tourists coming
to the Big Apple with hopes of big awards. The problem–for
them–is that New York state courts are supposed to apply
personal jurisdiction according to the same standards that the
Missouri appellate courts and the United States Supreme Court have
been lately. We received two very similar decisions from a friend
of
