9th Cir.: District Courts May Authorize Common Benefit Fund Assessments in Non-MDL Cases

SAN FRANCISCO — The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed that District Courts are authorized to order common benefit fund assessments from plaintiffs’ recoveries in non-MDL cases.

In an Aug. 24 opinion, the appellate panel explained that the District Court’s order requiring common benefit fund assessments in the non-MDL cases was within the scope of its authority to regulate the conduct of the MDL counsel and parties.

“A district court properly exercises its authority to order common benefit fund holdback assessments from claimants’ recoveries in non-MDL cases when (counsel for claimants voluntarily consents to the district court’s …