General Counsel from 45 National Companies Seek Amendments to MDL Procedures, Cite ‘Basic Lack of Fairness’

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– In a letter recently sent to the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, the general counsel for 45 major companies –– including Johnson & Johnson, ExxonMobil, and Microsoft Corp. –– have urged the Civil Rules Advisory Committee to review procedures used in multi-district litigation proceedings, citing a “point of crisis.”

In the Oct. 3 letter, addressed to Rebecca A. Womeldorf, Secretary, counsel for the companies argued that “as a number of cases consolidated into MDLs has grown to approximately 50 percent of the federal civil docket, MDLs have become less and less grounded in the widely …