St. Louis Litigation partners Jeff McPherson, Ray Price and Tom Weaver obtained an excellent result for client Cottrell Inc. in appealing a product liability case before the Supreme Court of Missouri.

The Gainesville, Georgia-based manufacturer of car haulers for tractor trailers was hit with a judgment for more than $1.1 million in a jury trial over whether a trailer was defective. Our team argued on appeal that the judgment should be reversed because of instructional and other error, and on June 27, 2017, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment. The case is now remanded to the circuit court for a new trial.

The case was recently covered in an article by Missouri Lawyers Weekly.

According to the article, “McPherson said that while the case would have to be retried, the reversal of the judgment put the ruling in the ‘win column.’”

McPherson is a trial and appellate lawyer handling all phases of commercial, tort, real estate, municipal and governmental litigation. He has represented clients in scores of appeals in the appellate courts of Missouri and Illinois as well as the Eighth and Seventh Circuits. McPherson also advises private entities and units of government in matters relating to subjects such as tax increment financing, annexation, zoning and public finance.

Price is a former Missouri Supreme Court judge, serving more than 20 years on the bench including two terms as chief justice. Since his return to private practice, Price has tried a number of jury and nonjury trials, argued numerous appeals and served as a mediator, arbitrator and court-appointed master in various civil and administrative cases. Price’s practice also includes litigation of claims involving class actions, mass torts, product liability, pharmaceutical liability, environmental regulation, land use, administrative, governmental and complex business issues.

Weaver leads the firm’s Appellate practice area, and his significant litigation experience includes serving as lead trial and appellate counsel in commercial, product liability, insurance and eminent domain litigation matters in both state and federal courts in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. He has implemented sophisticated post-trial strategies that weave persuasive arguments with legal and policy reasoning in over 135 appeals. He is a fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and served an 11-year term as a member of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners as appointed by the Supreme Court of Missouri.