A Primer on Mass Tort Lawsuits
Mass torts are legal actions involving a group of individuals harmed by the same product or action. In these lawsuits, each plaintiff retains their own attorney, and individual cases are treated separately. For efficient handling, these cases are often consolidated into a multidistrict litigation action, a process allowing plaintiffs from multiple districts with a similar case to be in one court for pre-trial proceedings.
Often, mass torts are similar to class-action lawsuits in that they involve multiple plaintiffs with similar claims against a defendant. However, class-action lawsuits group individuals and treat them as a single entity with one attorney and a class representative, and the ruling given applies to each plaintiff. In contrast, mass tort lawsuits treat each plaintiff individually, with each having an attorney. The plaintiffs do not consent to a single ruling or give up their ability to pursue separate claims.
Common mass tort lawsuits are related to defective drugs, medical devices, environmental pollution, and consumer products. For instance, plaintiffs may file a lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company for damages caused by a defective drug, or against an industrial company for contamination of a local water supply. Mass tort lawsuits can also arise from workplace incidents such as chemical exposure or industrial accidents.
Before embarking on the mass tort lawsuit process, involved parties must understand what constitutes negligence, as stated in the US legal system. To prove negligence, one must demonstrate the existence of five elements: a duty of care, a failure to exercise reasonable care (breach of duty) by the defendant, a direct correlation between the injuries sustained and the defendant’s actions (cause in fact), that the defendant directly caused the injury (proximate cause), and that the victim suffered harm (damages).
The mass tort lawsuit process starts with plaintiffs filing individual complaints against a defendant for harm caused by a defective drug or product. It is followed by a discovery process, where the plaintiffs’ attorneys gather the necessary evidence to build a strong case. This process may include obtaining medical records and documentation related to the harm suffered and identifying consistencies in cases filed by the affected clients.
The next step is the pre-trial phase, also known as motion practice, during which both sides present their evidence and claims. During this phase, the court handles the plaintiffs’ cases collectively as a mass tort. Since these cases can be complex, costly, and time consuming, plaintiffs decide to join forces to spread the costs, reduce the burden of litigation, and increase the chances of success.
In some cases, mass tort cases may be consolidated into multi-district litigation, which streamlines the pre-trial process and allows for more efficient management of the cases. Instead of trying each case separately, the court may select a representative sample, known as a bellwether trial, to determine how juries are likely to respond to the evidence. Bellwether trials serve as a gauge for the strength of evidence and potential settlement values and can also aid in reaching a settlement without the need for individual trials.
Mass torts lawsuits provide collective power to plaintiffs, allowing them to take on powerful groups and create stronger and more efficient cases. Advantages of mass torts include collective negotiating power, individual autonomy (allowing plaintiffs to present their own case details), more efficient court proceedings, shared resources among plaintiffs, and greater potential for compensation. These lawsuits also warn companies to uphold high safety standards and acceptable practices when dealing with consumers.
