Bloomberg Law Report Provides Actionable Insights on the Multidistrict Litigation Process

ARLINGTON, VA (October 12, 2023) — Bloomberg Law today announced the release of a new Multidistrict Litigation report that provides statistical evaluations of MDL court activity and data-driven analysis of the MDL process itself.

More than one million lawsuits have been officially consolidated into MDL cases over the years, but only about 1% of consolidated cases make it to trial. While infrequent, the largest MDLs can result in multi-billion-dollar settlements, significant impact to corporate valuations, and hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees. That’s why understanding the unique and complex pretrial procedures for MDL is essential for litigators and in-house counsel. With more than a dozen charts and tables—along with case studies, judicial profiles, and analysis—this report contains crucial information to help lawyers navigate MDL and use the process to their advantage.

The report’s six sections provide valuable facts for practitioners, including trends in consolidation motions, trends in pending dockets, developments in MDL’s biggest cases, and the potential changes and next steps for MDL.

Among the report’s key findings:

  • About 60% of all currently pending cases in federal district courts are wrapped up in MDL cases.
  • Although the largest MDL has more than 250,000 actions, most MDL cases consist of fewer than 20 actions.
  • Products liability lawsuits are the only MDLs that have seen a significant increase in court actions from 2013 to 2023.
  • Plaintiffs have a winning record when filing motions to consolidate cases, while defendants have lost more than they’ve won.

“Understanding trends in the multidistrict litigation process – from consolidation to transfer to resolution – is key to both plaintiff and defense attorneys’ success in this area,” said Alex Butler, vice president, analysis & content, Bloomberg Law. “Bloomberg Law’s new Multidistrict Litigation report leverages our platform’s unique data sets, analytics, and expert analysis to provide legal practitioners the information they need to navigate the MDL process.”

The Multidistrict Litigation report is the third report in Bloomberg Law’s 2023 Litigation Statistics series. The report is available to all Bloomberg Law subscribers and can be accessed by the non-subscribers at http://onb-law.com/oh3650PW09b.

About Bloomberg Law
Bloomberg Law combines the latest in legal technology with workflow tools, comprehensive primary and secondary sources, trusted news, expert analysis, and business intelligence. Bloomberg Law’s deep expertise and commitment to innovation provide a competitive edge to help improve attorney productivity and efficiency. For more information, visit Bloomberg Law.

Top