The Supreme Court Delivers a Blow to Plaintiff Paradise

By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Jef Feeley, Bloomberg Businessweek

Quick trials, big verdicts favoring consumers, and a state law that allows nonresidents to easily join mass litigations made St. Louis a destination of choice for attorneys going after companies that do business nationwide. Those days may be over, and drugmakers such as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Johnson & Johnson couldn’t be more relieved.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June struck a blow against so-called litigation tourism, ruling there has to be a connection between the forum and the specific claims at issue. In an 8-to-1 ruling , the top court said almost 600 people ...