Erroneously Declare or Apply the Law

When appealing a bench trial, a higher court may overturn a trial court’s judgment after a judge-tried case if the trial court erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. 1976).

Stated differently, a trial court commits reversible error in its judgment if it (1) misstates the applicable legal standards or (2) misapplies the legal standard to the facts of the case. Declarations of law are reviewed on a de novo basis by a court of appeals. Moore v. Director of Revenue, 351 S.W.3d 286, 287 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011). With a de novo review, the court of appeals accords no deference to a lower court’s conclusions of law. Hogenmiller v. Miss. Lime Co., 574 S.W.3d 333, 336 (Mo. Ct. App. 2019).

For example, a trial court misapplies the law when it does not award attorney fees to a successful party in a breach of contract suit when the contract entitles a prevailing party to attorney fees. Desu v. Lewis, 427 S.W. 3d 843, 844-45 (Mo. Ct. App. 2014) (trial court reversed for failing to award attorney fees per a contract).

Related Articles

Claimant Summary Judgment Motions

June 8, 2023

Summary judgment is a procedure where the Court concludes one side to a lawsuit wins under the law without a trial. It requires there to be (1) no dispute about material facts and (2) that the moving party is entitled to judgment under the law. Summary judgment is an “extreme and drastic remedy” that must…

Read More

Mistrials

May 30, 2023

A mistrial is where a judge effectively cancels a trial because of an extremely prejudicial error that occurs during a trial. “A mistrial is a drastic remedy, and the decision to grant one is largely within the discretion of the trial court.” Callahan v. Cardinal Glennon Hosp., 863 S.W.2d 852, 867 (Mo. 1993); see Pierce v. Platte-Clay…

Read More

Felonies, Convictions, Impeachment Evidence

May 24, 2023

Unlike in federal court, Missouri State Courts allow more flexibility regarding the use of prior convictions to impeach a witness. Section 491.050, RSMo provides, in part that: “Any person who has been convicted of a crime is, notwithstanding, a competent witness; however, any prior criminal convictions may be proved to affect his credibility in a…

Read More

Reformation Statute of Limitations

May 18, 2023

Reformation is a legal theory used to correct mistakes in a legal document. More technically, it is an “extraordinary equitable remedy and should be granted with great caution and only in clear cases of fraud or mistake.” Morris v. Brown, 941 S.W.2d 835, 840 (Mo. Ct. App. 1997). For example, in cases of mistake, the mistake…

Read More
Scroll to Top