Mass Torts

A mass tort is an act or omission that harms numerous people.  Examples are explosions, commercial plane crashes, water contamination due to toxic waste or pollution from industrial factories.

Mass torts are not single cases, but rather, groupings of individual lawsuits alleging the same issues against the same defendant.

Federal courts use multidistrict litigation where these actions seek remedies in situations where a class of plaintiffs cannot be “certified.”  Typically, such cases are consolidated before a single federal judge under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

All pretrial motions may then be heard by a single judge, and frequently,  exclusionary/inclusionary  motions are ruled upon by a federal judge.  A major issue is usually one of excluding “junk science” from juries when cases are tried.  This is the judge’s gatekeeper function:   To make sure only appropriate information comes in.

The court uses  the “Daubert standard” to test expert opinions and in determining whether the methodology used by an expert witness to support a case is valid.  Whether the product caused the injury is usually a primary issue.

Examples of current mass torts claims are:

*    Chemical hair relaxer

*    Camp Lejeune litigation

*    3M defective ear plug litigation

*    Infant formula NEC litigation

*    PFAS litigation (forever chemicals)

*    Paraquat litigation

*    Philips CPAP machines litigation

*    Social media addiction

*    Tepezza litigation

  *    Exactech hip, knee and ankle recall litigation

*    Human trafficking litigation

*    Tylenol and autism litigation

  *    Elmiron litigation

  *    Bard hernia mesh litigation

*    Allegan litigation

*    Proton Pump inhibitors (PPI’s) litigation

*   Talcum powder litigation

*   Roundup litigation

We can also assist with JUUL Paragard litigation.

We would be honored to assist you in getting you compensation for your injuries.