What's the Difference?

multi-district litigation cases and class-action cases

A class-action case involves a single lawsuit that is filed by a large group of people who have suffered similar harm by the same defendant (or defendants). The individuals within the class consolidate their claims into the one legal action. Class action cases may be brought before the federal court if the particular claim deals with federal law. In order to file a class action case, you must file with several stated plaintiffs on behalf of a proposed class. This proposed class is required to be made up of individuals or businesses that have sustained a common injury

Multi-district litigation (MDL), on the other hand, may involve multiple lawsuits that have been filed by different parties. The different legal actions are consolidated merely for the purpose of pre-trial proceeding convenience, including discovery, and may then be sent back to the courts where they came from for the trial.

In recent years, the medical / pharmaceutical injury attorneys have become increasingly involved in multi-district litigation cases, including serving on the plaintiffs' steering committees that make important decisions regarding the strategy and direction of the litigation. Multi district litigation is meant to speed the process of cases that may be complex. These types of litigation usually involve product liability suits where a large number of people experienced similar negative side effects after using a particular pharmaceutical or medical device.

Multi-district litigation, in contrast to class-action litigation, allows for each client's individual needs to be addressed while still enjoying many of the benefits that have traditionally been associated with class-action cases, such as the pooling of resources that may be needed to take on large, powerful corporations with virtually unlimited resources of their own.