Missouri Defective Product Attorneys

Statute of Limitations

5 years

5 years from injury (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120) — among the longer SOLs in the country.

Statute of Repose

No repose

No general products statute of repose; 10-year repose for improvements to real property (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.097).

Strict Liability Standard

Restatement

Restatement (Second) § 402A adopted in Keener v. Dayton Electric (1969); consumer-expectation test.

Comparative Fault Rule

Pure comparative

Pure comparative fault (Gustafson v. Benda, 1983; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.765) — recovery reduced by plaintiff's fault, no bar.

Products Liability Statute

No code

No comprehensive code; common-law § 402A; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.760 et seq. governs.

Typical attorney fee

33%

33%–40% contingency — no fee unless you win

Missouri's product liability law has deep roots: the state adopted strict liability under Restatement (Second) § 402A back in Keener v. Dayton Electric Manufacturing Co. (1969), and its courts evaluate design defects through the consumer-expectation test (Smith v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco). Since Gustafson v. Benda (1983) — now codified at Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.765 — Missouri has followed pure comparative fault, so your recovery shrinks by your share of blame but is never barred outright. You also get an unusually generous 5-year statute of limitations under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120, among the longer SOLs in the country, and no general products statute of repose. The flip side: the venue landscape changed. After the City of St. Louis Circuit Court delivered enormous verdicts — $4.7B against J&J in the Ingham talc case, plus major Roundup and pharma awards — venue reforms tightened where product suits can be filed (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 508.010, as amended). Navigating those rules, and the still-busy Eastern District of Missouri federal docket, takes counsel who litigates here regularly.