St. Louis Dad Alleges 'Buying Future Litigation' Court Scheme

Matt Grant's complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and is currently pending with Judge Joshua Divine.

Juliette Fairley

Published: 1/8/2026, 5:16:46 PM EST

St. Louis Dad Alleges 'Buying Future Litigation' Court Scheme — Attorney and father Matt Grant and his two sons. (Photo courtesy of Matt Grant)

A Missouri father and civil defense litigator who accused a faction of St. Louis County Family Court professionals of racketeering has expanded his lawsuit to include other Missouri residents.

Matt Grant's complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and the Civil Rights Act (18 U.S.C. § 1983) and accuses two judges, a commissioner, multiple attorneys, and a court-appointed guardian ad litem of participating in a criminal enterprise designed to manipulate custody cases for financial gain.

In his second amended complaint, Grant cites attorneys emailing about buying future litigation (BFL) in a custody battle that involved sexual assault and child molestation allegations against a father by his 5-year-old daughter.

“The Buying Future Litigation email involved a state court child custody matter that was improperly transferred by RICO enterprise members from Circuit Judge Hemphill to Defendant [Judge] Bruce F. Hilton after Defendant Hilton’s appointment as a 21st Circuit Judge,” Grant states in the complaint.

Hilton, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment. However, in a memo in support of a motion to dismiss Grant’s lawsuit, Hilton invoked sovereign immunity, judicial immunity, qualified, official, and Eleventh Amendment immunity.

“Defendants clearly were acting within the scope of their employment as a Missouri state-court judge when they made the decisions that were issued and that are the basis for Plaintiffs’ claims,” wrote Hilton’s attorney Kelli Reichert in the filing. “And plaintiffs have not pled facts suggesting any degree of intent or malice on the part of Judge Hilton.”

Grant has dedicated a website called StopMissouriCorruption.com documenting his experience with being ordered limited visitation with his two teenage sons despite prior joint custody.

He defines BFL as a strategy in which experts are hired with an ulterior motive of obtaining evidence to perpetuate a family court or adult guardianship case to increase the fees of attornies whether or not it is in the best interest of a child or ward.

“In these [probate] matters, the RICO enterprise improperly obtains court ordered Conservatorships and/or Guardians Ad Litem appointments for competent adults to improperly seize and sell the individuals’ personal assets to generate illegal proceeds for the RICO enterprise and its members,” Grant wrote.

The case is currently pending before Judge Joshua Divine; however, Grant has filed a motion to disqualify Divine because he previously worked in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

“The lawyer for Judge Hilton works in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office where Judge Divine worked until July 2025,” Grant told NTD. “The issue is bias and there’s an appearance of impropriety.”