United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation

The next hearing session of the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is scheduled for November 30, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. Eight matters are set for oral argument to consider motions to transfer each to one centralized district for coordinated pretrial proceedings. The matters include trending issues such as Equifax’s massive 2017 data breach and the national opioid litigation against Big Pharma manufacturers and distributors. Ten matters will be considered for centralization without the parties making oral arguments.

What is the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation?

Multidistrict litigation is a mechanism for increasing efficiency in the federal court system. Created through an Act of Congress in 1968, 28 U.S.C. 1407, the law allows for the transfer of civil actions involving common questions of fact to one federal district court for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. To transfer a case, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation must determine that the transfer will (1) be for the convenience of parties and witnesses; and (2) promote the just and efficient conduct of the related lawsuits. The efficiency in transferring cases to on federal court, or “centralization,” is accomplished through avoidance of discovery duplication, prevention of inconsistent pretrial rulings, and conserving resources of the parties, their attorneys, and the judiciary. If the Judicial Panel determines a case should be centralized, they will also determine at the hearing which Judge will handle the centralized proceedings.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consists of seven sitting federal judges appointed to serve on the panel by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Appointment is reflective of a judge being held in high esteem on the bench. The current Chair of the panel is Judge Sarah S. Vance from the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Currently, there are Multidistrict Litigation matters pending in disaster cases involving the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; intellectual property; employment cases; securities litigation; and several others. Multidistrict Litigation is most frequent in cases involving products liability, antitrust, or marketing and sales practices. To date in 2017, Multidistrict Litigation has been formed in 9 products liability matters; 4 marketing and sales practice matters; and 2 antitrust matters.

Matters Set for Oral Argument

The following matters are scheduled for oral argument during the hearing session:

• MDL No. 2777 – In re: Michael Stapleton Associates, Ltd., Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Wage Hour Litigation
• MDL No. 2800 – In re: Equifax, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation
• MDL No. 2801 – In re: Capacitors Antitrust Litigation (No. III)
• MDL No. 2802 – In re: Epipen (Epinephrine Injection, USP) Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Litigation
• MDL No. 2804 – In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation
• MDL No. 2806 – In re: McGregor-Mayweather Boxing Match Pay-Per-View Litigation
• MDL No. 2807 – In re: Sonic Corp. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation
• MDL No. 2808 – In re: Anthony Spencer Green, Sr. Litigation

Notable Motions to Transfer

MDL No. 2800 – In re: Equifax, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation. This matter involves over 300 cases filed against the consumer credit agency, alleging violations of state and federal laws for the company’s purported failure to use adequate safeguards to protect consumers. The alleged failures resulted in unauthorized individuals gaining access to Equifax, Inc.’s data network storing the private information of 143 million consumers. The Plaintiffs suing Equifax, Inc. moved for consolidation when only 22 cases were pending and noted numbers were likely to rise quickly given the amount of victims; by the morning of the hearing, over 300 cases had been filed. Equifax, Inc. acknowledged the data breach in September 2017; records accessed included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers.

MDL No. 2804 – In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation. Counsel representing several Plaintiffs filed for consolidation of the actions of state, county, and municipal governments and other agencies against opiate manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Teva/Cephalon, Janssen, Endo, Actavis, and Mallinckrodt and distributors McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, and Cardinal Health, Inc. The lawsuits allege negligence as well as violations of public nuisance laws, state consumer protection statutes, and the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Practices Act, 18 U.S.C. §§1961, et seq. Plaintiffs allege opioid manufacturers and distributors misrepresented the risk of addiction associated with opioid use to regulators, doctors, and patients and failed to report suspiciously large orders of their drugs, actions which allegedly contributed to the current nationwide opioid epidemic.