The central purpose of any trial is to determine what factually occurred and to determine who wins under the law based on those factual determinations. In litigation, a “judicial admission” is any act “done in the course of judicial proceedings that concedes for the purpose of litigation that a certain proposition is true.” Moore Automotive…
Legal Articles
Types of Conversion, Personal Property Misuse
Conversion is the civil claim pertaining to misuse of another’s personal property. It is the “intentional exercise of dominion or control over [personal property] which so seriously interferes with the right of another to control it that the [wrongdoer] may justly be required to pay” for the value of the property. Breece v. Jett, 556…
Double Recoveries
The purpose of legal remedies — money damages or equitable relief — is to make you “whole.” But you can only be made “whole” once. Indeed, “a party cannot be compensated for the same injury twice.” Norber v. Marcotte, 134 S.W.3d 651, 661 (Mo. App. E.D. 2004). In other words, a “party is not entitled…
Resulting Trusts
Resulting trusts and constructive trusts are nebulous equity concepts in the law. Both are generally viewed as remedies. Both are “implied trusts.” Colonial Presbyterian Church v. Heartland, 375 S.W.3d 190, 195 (Mo. App. W.D. 2012). A resulting trust is “implied by law to meet the requirements of justice that a legal status be given to what…
Equitable Relief, Pleadings
At trial, a court is limited to the relief requested in the pleadings. The “pleadings” generally refers to the petition, answer, affirmative defenses, and counterclaim. While there are numerous exceptions to this, a prominent exception includes equitable relief. While Missouri courts are restrained from deciding an unpleaded fatual issue, a court of equity grant any…
Abandoned Pleadings
Once a pleading — whether it be a petition, answer, etc. — is amended the prior iteration of the pleading is considered “abandoned.” Unless the subsequent pleading adopts or incorporates the contents of a prior pleading, the abandoned pleadings is largely irrelevant. In no uncertain terms, Missouri courts have described it as a “mere scrap…
Appealing Dismissals Without Prejudice
The default rule is that only judgments on the merits or dismissals with prejudice may be appealed. Dismissals without prejudice mean that the litigant can re-plead and pursue the claims; so, the court of appeals is often reluctant to touch a dismissal without prejudice until the trial court had made a final decision. To that end, there…
Principal-Agency Liability
If a principal-agent relationship exists, it can have a tremendous impact on a potential lawsuit. “Agency is the fiduciary relationship resulting from the manifestation of consent by an agent to a principal that the agent will act on the principal’s behalf and subject to his or her control.” Cent. Trust and Inv. Co. v. Signalpoint Asset…
Abandoned Pleadings
Pleadings are the main legal documents that set forth a parties claims and defenses. They “present, define, and isolate the issues, so that the trial court and all parties have notice of the issues.” Norman v. Wright, 100 S.W.3d 783, 786 (Mo. 2003). Although Missouri is a fact-pleading state, only “ultimate facts” — those the jury…
Claimant Summary Judgment Motions
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…