Mass tort

What is mass tort litigation?

Mass tort litigation is a legal process bringing together large numbers of individual claims arising from a common product, drug or event, while still preserving each person's own individual case for damages.

It differs from a class action in an important respect. Each plaintiff generally retains their own separate claim and receives an individualized damages assessment, rather than sharing in a single collective judgment or settlement fund.

Common examples include defective pharmaceutical drugs, dangerous medical devices, and environmental or chemical exposure affecting many people across a wide geographic area.

Coordination through multidistrict litigation is a frequent feature of these cases, allowing shared discovery and pretrial proceedings while preserving individual claims.

How does this differ from a class action?

Several distinctions matter considerably to how these cases actually proceed and resolve.

• Each plaintiff generally retains an individual claim rather than a shared collective one
• Damages are individually assessed based on each person's own specific injury and circumstances
• Settlement, where it occurs, is often structured through individual allocation formulas rather than a single fund
• Plaintiffs generally retain more individual control than in a typical class action
• Coordination benefits, including shared discovery, still apply despite the individualized nature of each claim

Why does coordination matter in these large scale cases?

Because establishing that a specific product or exposure caused harm generally requires the same core scientific and corporate evidence across every individual case.

Coordinating discovery, expert testimony and pretrial motions across all the related cases avoids the inefficiency of separately litigating the same core issues over and over in different courts.

This coordination benefits both sides, since defendants also avoid duplicative discovery burdens across what might otherwise be many separate, disconnected proceedings.

What should you expect if your case is part of one of these proceedings?

Your own individual case retains its own specific facts, injuries and damages, even while benefiting from the shared discovery and expert work developed across the broader litigation.

Settlement, where it occurs, is often distributed according to an allocation formula accounting for the severity and specific circumstances of each individual claim.

Your own attorney continues representing your individual interests throughout, even while the case benefits from the broader coordinated litigation effort.

Common questions

Is this the same thing as a class action?

No. You generally retain your own individual claim and receive an individualized damages assessment, unlike a typical class action where claims are resolved collectively.

Will my case be treated the same as everyone else's in this type of litigation?

No. Your own specific injury and damages are individually assessed, even while the broader litigation shares common discovery and expert evidence across all the related cases.

How is a settlement typically distributed among many plaintiffs in this kind of case?

Generally through an allocation formula accounting for the specific severity and circumstances of each individual claim, rather than an equal division among everyone involved.