State Ex Rel. Williams v. Mauer

722 S.W.2d 296, 1986 Mo. LEXIS 354
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedDecember 16, 1986
Docket68107
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 722 S.W.2d 296 (State Ex Rel. Williams v. Mauer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Williams v. Mauer, 722 S.W.2d 296, 1986 Mo. LEXIS 354 (Mo. 1986).

Opinions

ROBERTSON, Judge.

On September 4, 1985, respondent, the Honorable William F. Mauer, Presiding Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, entered a case management order (the “order”) relating to sixteen pending civil suits alleging asbestos-related injuries. The relevant portions of the Order are set out in Appendix A. By its terms, the order also applies to any asbestos-related actions filed subsequent to its entry. The order purports “to establish a uniform procedure for the conduct and coordination of orderly discovery in pre-trial procedures ... in order to facilitate pre-trial proceedings and to avoid duplication, undue burden and expense whenever possible....”

Relators filed a petition for a writ of prohibition in the Court of Appeals, Western District, claiming that respondent’s order is contrary to the Rules of Civil Procedure of this Court and is therefore null and void. The Western District issued its preliminary rule in prohibition, and following argument, made its preliminary rule absolute. We granted respondent’s application to transfer; we have jurisdiction. Mo. Const, art. Y, § 10. Preliminary rule ordered quashed.

I.

“The Supreme Court may establish rules relating to practice, procedure and pleadings for all courts and administrative tribunals, which shall have the force and effect of law_” Mo. Const, art. V, § 5. Rule 50.01 permits trial courts to “make rules governing the administration of judicial business if the rules are not inconsistent with the rules of this Court, the Constitution or statutory law in force....”

Relators argue that portions of respondent’s order are inconsistent with the Rules of Civil Procedure. Relator contends that respondent’s order is, therefore, in excess of respondent’s jurisdiction and prohibition is an appropriate remedy. Respondent urges that his order is not inconsistent with the Rules of Civil Procedure; respondent further claims that relators have an adequate remedy on appeal and that prohibition does not properly lie in this case.

Prohibition is appropriate to compel a trial judge to comply with the rules of this Court where there is no adequate remedy by appeal. State ex rel. Bullington v. Mason, 593 S.W.2d 224 (Mo. banc 1980). Prohibition is also appropriate where a trial judge seeks to permit discovery which is expressly forbidden by statute. State ex rel. Faith Hospital v. Enright, 706 S.W.2d 852 (Mo. banc 1986).

Here, relators claim that respondent’s order is forbidden by Rule 50.01. Prohibition is the proper remedy to test respondent’s authority in such a circumstance. State ex rel. Gulf Oil Corp. v. Weinstein, 379 S.W.2d 172, 175 (Mo.App.1964). We caution, however, that a preliminary rule in prohibition will be made absolute only where there is a clear excess of jurisdiction. State ex rel. Public Defender Commission v. Bonacker, 706 S.W.2d 449, 451 (Mo. banc 1986).

[298]*298II.

Those portions of respondent’s order that relators claim exceed his authority can be divided into issues dealing with requirements for plaintiffs’ initial petitions in asbestos-related cases (the “petition issues”) and issues relating to discovery (the “discovery issues”). For purposes of discussion we address these issues separately.

A.

Relators argue that by requiring persons claiming injury from asbestos-related products to file, with their petitions:

A master identification list (1112(a)),

a list of physicians and medical facilities at which the plaintiff was treated for any illness (¶ 12(b)),

copies of any medical opinions indicating that a plaintiff or decedent had an asbestos-related disease (If 12(c)),

a list of any lawsuits or workers’ compensation claims filed by plaintiff both for asbestos and non-asbestos-related injuries (¶ 12(d)), and

authorizations for defendants to obtain: Social Security records, tax records, employment records, workers’ compensation records, hospital and physician medical records, union records, military records and Veterans’ Administration records

(¶ 13), respondent’s order imposes unfair and arbitrary burdens on asbestos victims in connection with the institution of their lawsuits. Relators also challenge Paragraph 11 of the order which requires that:

All future petitions shall include, to the extent then known, the diagnosis of the alleged asbestos-related disease, the date of diagnosis of the disease, and the alleged period of exposure, and the plaintiff’s social security number.

Relators claim that these requirements contradict Rule 55.05, which provides that a petition need only contain “(1) a short and plain statement of the facts showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, and (2) a demand for judgment for the relief to which he deems himself entitled....”

Relators also contend that Paragraphs 12 and 13 violate relators’ due process and equal protection rights, unlawfully amend the Rules of Civil Procedure, and constitute an impediment to access to the courts in violation of Mo. Const, art. I, § 14. For the reasons which follow, we do not reach the merits of relators’ claims regarding the petition issues.

Each of the relators in this action filed a petition for damages prior to the entry of respondent’s order. None of these relators has been denied access to the courts by respondent’s order. None of these relators has had his petition dismissed for failure to comply with Paragraphs 12 and 13 of the order.

On close inspection, it is apparent that these relators are attempting to protect the rights of future plaintiffs who may file a petition claiming an asbestos-related injury.

Prudential principles of justiciability, to which this Court has long adhered, require that a party have standing to bring an action. Standing requires that a party have a personal stake arising from a threatened or actual injury. Harrison v. Monroe County, 716 S.W.2d 263 (Mo. banc 1986).

Here, relators claim a threatened injury to future plaintiffs who may allege asbestos-related injuries. They have no personal stake in their challenge to Paragraphs 12 and 13 of respondent’s order. Relators are, therefore, without standing to challenge the petition requirements of respondent’s order.1

[299]*299B.

With regard to the discovery issues, rela-tors urge that:

(1) Paragraph 14 of respondent’s order violates Rule 57.03 by imposing additional requirements to the procedure for taking a deposition;

(2) Paragraph 14 of the respondent’s order requires a plaintiff to provide additional information in his notice of deposition, in violation Rule 56.01(b)(4) and 57.03(b);

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Bluebook (online)
722 S.W.2d 296, 1986 Mo. LEXIS 354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-williams-v-mauer-mo-1986.