Court Grants MRSB Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings in Highly Contested Dissolution of Marriage Case

On April 5, 2018 after a one-year highly contested post dissolution matter, the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri granted McDowell Rice’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. On the eve of the one-year deadline, Petitioner sought to set aside the Judgment and Decree of Dissolution of Marriage which incorporated an agreed Separation and Property Settlement Agreement on the basis of fraud. Petitioner sought an extra six million dollars in addition to the settlement she had already received. Petitioner sought to discredit the firm’s client by aggressively and relentlessly pursuing confidential, privileged, and irrelevant discovery from third-party sources. The case moved into a unique procedural posture as the firm’s client passed away during litigation. McDowell Rice successfully argued that the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction in the case, and even if the Court granted Petitioner’s Motion to Set Aside, the Court could not grant the relief requested. R. Pete Smith was lead counsel.