Mass Torts

Dangerous Drugs, Devices, and Implants

Mass torts and multidistrict litigation (MDL) allow everyday people from across the country to stand up to powerful corporations when a dangerous product, drug, medical device, or widespread hazard harms large numbers of people in the same way. Instead of forcing each injured person to fight alone in different courts, related federal cases are brought together before one judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings—streamlining discovery, reducing costs, and
promoting consistent rulings—while still preserving each client’s individual claim and right to their own recovery. This process helps reduce costs, avoid inconsistent rulings, and move cases more efficiently—while still preserving each client’s individual claim, medical story, and right to a personal recovery.

Mass Tort

In a mass tort, many individuals file separate lawsuits against the same defendant or group of defendants, typically over common issues such as a defective medical device, prescription drug, toxic exposure, or other dangerous product. When those federal cases share overlapping facts and are pending in courts around the country, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation can “centralize” them into an MDL in a single federal district court for coordinated discovery, motion practice, and global settlement efforts. This centralization avoids duplicative discovery, reduces the risk of inconsistent pretrial rulings, and conserves resources for injured people, their lawyers, and the court system.

Multi District Litigation ("MDL")

MDL is different from a class action: in a class action, one case and one verdict typically bind everyone in the class, while in an MDL, each plaintiff keeps their own lawsuit, their own damages, and their own voice in the process. Coordinated pretrial work in an MDL often leads to bellwether trials and settlement structures that help resolve thousands of claims more efficiently, but if a case does not settle, it can be sent back to the original court for trial.

At Baskin Legal, we are actively investigating and taking mass tort and MDL-related claims on behalf of people injured by defective products and dangerous corporate conduct, and we invite you to contact us to discuss whether your situation may qualify for representation.