What is a MDL?
On this blog, and often in the media, you see writers refer to "MDLs". MDL refers to multi-district litigation, which is a legal procedure used in the federal court system to more efficiently handle complex cases.
MDL cases are "civil actions involving one or more common questions of fact are pending in different districts." In order to efficiently process cases that could involve hundreds (or thousands) of plaintiffs in dozens of different federal courts which all share common issues, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decides whether cases should be consolidated under MDL and where to transfer the cases. Cases subject to MDL are sent from one court, known as the transferor, to another, known as the transferee, for all pretrial proceedings and discovery. If a case is not settled or dismissed in the transferee court, it is remanded (i.e., sent back) to the transferor court for trial.
The MDL statute is 28 U.S.C. ยง 1407 in the United States Code. Section 1407 was enacted in 1968 as a belated response to a price-fixing scandal at General Electric in the early 1960s which badly swamped the federal courts with a flood of criminal prosecutions and related civil litigation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-district_litigation
It is worth noting that MDLs are distinct from class actions. For a primer on the difference between the two click here: http://www.kentuckyinjurylawyerblog.com/2011/01/mass_torts_multidistrict_litig.html
