Welding Defendants Ask MDL Court to Curtail Opponents' Emails to Special Master

CLEVELAND - Defendants in the Welding Fume Products MDL have asked Presiding Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley to bar unsolicited email communications between plaintiffs' counsel and the court's special master that they say involve issues that should be the subject of motions to the court. In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:03-cv-17000 [MDL Docket No. 1535] (N.D. Ohio).

Defendants contend in their Oct. 7 filing that the emails have led to disputes between the parties being placed off the record and, in a recent case, included a suggestion that the MDL's presiding judge rule on an issue that is …