Supreme Court Clarifies Retroactive Application of Changes in Procedural Laws

The Montana Supreme Court backed away from its own precedent on the retroactive application of changes in the law, saying its most recent decision on this issue had contained an overly broad analysis incorrectly suggesting that a procedural statute in effect at the time of trial doesn’t apply to claims based on injuries that predated an amendment to the statute. Case: Murphy v. WestRock Co., No. DA 17-0172, 03/20/2018, published. Facts: Carl Murphy suffered injuries to his back, neck and shoulder while working at the Smurfit-Stone Container mill in 1991. Smurfit-Stone accepted liabili...