Interdisciplinary Team Wins Dismissal of Missouri Class Action

A cross-office, cross-practice team of Philadelphia and New Jersey litigators and bankruptcy attorneys scored a hard-fought victory in federal court in St. Louis, when the court issued an order dismissing an action filed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Acts against our client, a New Jersey pharmaceutical company. Craig Mills, Chris Dalton, Mark Pfeiffer and Grace Gaspari filed multiple motions to dismiss in the case, forcing the plaintiff to repeatedly change its story concerning the identity of the real party in interest. After the named corporate plaintiff was compelled to admit it had no standing, and its individual owner attempted to take up the action personally, the Buchanan team proved that the individual had declared personal bankruptcy after the claim arose, such that it became an asset of his estate in bankruptcy and he lacked standing to pursue it. In denying the plaintiff’s request to stay the action while he attempted to cure this defect and obtain standing retroactively, Judge Nannette Baker ruled that "This Court has no duty to save an uncertified class where the current Plaintiff and the putative class plaintiff both lack standing at the time the request is made," and dismissed the action with prejudice.