by Mark Friedman on Monday, Mar. 25, 2013 12:00 am 7 min read

Attorney John Goodson (inset) and his pursuit of class-action lawsuits led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that will make it easier for defendants in to move their cases out of Miller County Circuit Court and into federal court. (Evan Lewis)

The high court agreed with dozens of other corporations that have complained that Miller County Circuit Court is a legal backwater where friendly elected judges help prolific local class-action attorneys exploit a loophole in federal law to force giant settlements in cases whose legal merits are never even considered.