In instances where negligence or a wrongful act, defective product, or defective drug that causes harm affects numerous people, mass tort litigation offers legal recourse. Often, people confuse mass tort with class action suits. There are similarities, like multiple claimants, and the fact that they mainly involve injuries or adverse bodily effects. However, with mass tort litigation, each claimant files their lawsuit but presents the case under a lead counsel to ease the process, while in a class action, all potential plaintiffs fall under one lawsuit.

1. THE STAGES OF
A MASS TORT
LITIGATION

2. In instances where negligence or a wrongful
act, defective product, or defective drug that
causes harm affects numerous people, mass
tort litigation offers legal recourse. Often,
people confuse mass tort with class action
suits. There are similarities, like multiple
claimants, and the fact that they mainly involve
injuries or adverse bodily effects. However,
with mass tort litigation, each claimant files
their lawsuit but presents the case under a lead
counsel to ease the process, while in a class
action, all potential plaintiffs fall under one
lawsuit.

3. The first stage of a mass tort case is to review the records. The attorney has to
determine if the mass tort case is feasible and worth pursuing by reviewing the
documents, which include the plaintiff's statements and the allegations, for example,
the illness experienced and its likely cause. Unlike a personal injury case, where the
records review focuses on the current issue, a mass tort review delves deeper into the
plaintiff's history. For example, in case of illness from a product intake, the lawyer
reviews the entire medical record for other factors outside of the allegation that may
have contributed to the harm.

4. Successful mass tort cases typically involve large
settlements. Therefore, the defendant's counsel
seeks all possible ways to discredit the allegations,
such as external or pre-existing factors. Thus, to
ease the process and increase the chances of a
successful verdict or settlement, the plaintiffs
should provide accurate and exhaustive information
to the representing attorneys.
After document review, the mass tort lawyers have
to establish allegation uniformity and consistency
among the clients. For example, in a case of
poisoning from a food brand, the attorneys should
seek similarities in the signs and symptoms among
the claimants. The symptoms should be very
similar.

5. In some cases, the claimants have already filed lawsuits in the district federal courts -
all against one defendant. The challenge thus remains to build one uniform case from
the different lawsuits, which sometimes can number in the thousands. To increase the
chances of success and eventual compensation, the representing counsel will select
cases with a similar structure and pattern.

6. In cases where the claimants are from a diverse
demographic, attorneys usually ease the case filing
by subdividing the claimants into groups with
similar patterns or demographics, for example,
severity of injury or age. The distinction may also
eventually determine the percentage of
compensation. After determining uniformity, the
attorneys file a federal lawsuit.

7. To ease and streamline the lawsuit process, all parties, including the defense counsel
and the federal court judges, prefer the mass tort attorney to file the claims together,
regardless of the number. For a large number of claimants, however, the federal courts
request one or more test trials. Known as “bellwether trials,” these sample cases from
the mass tort case are used to establish the merit and feasibility of the mass tort case.
In case of injury or illness, the sample typically features the claimants who have already
died or are facing imminent death from the alleged harm.

8. Bellwether cases save time and resources, as
they serve as an indicator of how the mass tort
case will go. Although the bellwether cases serve
as a trial run, the claimants' claims are treated
seriously - if a judge or jury rules in favor of the
defendant in the bellwether stage, the courts
typically dismiss the main mass tort case.

9. Last, if the courts rule in favor of the claimants, the judge establishes the settlement
amount and timeline. Though defendants usually settle eventually, the timelines depend
on the case complexity and settlement amount - some take years to resolve fully, as the
defendant may appeal. For most cases, the claimant's counsel may also appeal the
ruling. However, for straightforward cases, the claimants and defense counsel often
seek an out-of-court settlement without a trial to save time and money.