Picture this: a manufacturer faces hundreds or thousands – or in the case of one major company, hundreds of thousands – of personal injury lawsuits stemming from the use of its products. Centralized multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) has proven an effective method of managing complex civil litigation of this type, but it is not without logistical challenges. Since its inception over 50 years ago, multidistrict litigation has exploded in both complexity and quantity. Over 1.1 million cases have been centralized into MDLs since 1968, and the 2022 fiscal year alone saw over 60,000 cases in MDL proceedings. Statistical Analysis of Multidistrict Litigation Under 28 U.S.C. § 1407 Fiscal Year 2022, UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION, December 9, 2022. MDLs are also becoming a mainstay of federal dockets, comprising up to 51.9% of all pending federal civil cases in 2018. Wittenberg, Daniel S., Multidistrict Litigation: Dominating the Federal Docket, LITIGATION NEWS: AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, Feb. 19, 2020.

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