Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on Multi-District Litigation Practice

Bradley partner and Litigation Practice Group Co-Chair Tripp Haston will address the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules on proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 concerning Multi-District Litigation (“MDL”) practice. The hearing will occur at the federal Administration Office of U.S. Courts in Washington DC. Mr. Haston will appear on behalf of the International Association of Defense Counsel, an organization he has served for many years including as its President, to address a proposed new Rule 16.1 which would provide for much needed structure for the initial organization and planning for Multi-District Litigation proceedings. MDLs allow for the consolidation and coordination of mass litigation in federal courts. Cases filed in MDLs account for more than 70% of all federal civil litigation and at present there are hundreds of MDLs consolidating many thousands of such claims. However, there remains no formal rule in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to uniformly govern practice and procedure in the MDL setting. Mr. Haston will address proposed Rule 16.1 and recommended changes to the proposed rule to provide federal courts with much needed uniform structure and processes for administering the overwhelming number of cases in federal courts.

More information on proposed Rule 16.1 here.