What is a Mass Tort?
A mass tort is civil litigation involving a large number of victims suing the same corporate defendant(s) over injuries (or even deaths) caused by the defendantโs negligence. In most mass tort cases, plaintiffs are suing over harm caused by a single common product such as a defective drug, medical device or other consumer product.
Mass torts usually begin when numerous lawsuits have been filed against a company alleging that their product caused the same or similar injuries. If the court determines that the lawsuits have enough in common to proceed as a mass tort, they will be moved to the same court and assigned to a single judge. This centralization of cases is known as a multidistrict litigation (MDL).
The U.S. court system uses mass tort litigation to manage a large number of similar lawsuits in order to increase efficiency, decrease litigation costs, and resolve cases quickly.
What is Multidistrict Litigation?
A multidistrict litigation (MDL) is a legal procedure in which multiple lawsuits from across the country in different state and federal courts are transferred to a single federal court before a single judge. MDL is often synonymous with the term โmass tort.โ
What are the Advantages of Joining a Mass Tort?
Mass tort litigation offers a number of advantages for plaintiffs, including:
- Plaintiffs can share in discovery (or evidence) gathered in pre-trial proceedings.ย Mass tort litigation allows one attorney or groups of attorneys to represent the injured parties in their own individual lawsuits. Any evidence, resources or other information gathered in pre-trial investigation is then pooled and shared among the plaintiffs. This serves two benefits: (1) It speeds up the litigation process, and (2) It ensures that all individuals receive fair settlements for their injuries.
- Plaintiffs have the opportunity to receive larger settlement payouts. Mass tort settlements are awarded based on the plaintiffโs individual injuries. The more harm or injury you suffered, the higher your settlement award will be in order to fairly compensate for your medical bills, pain and suffering, loss of income, and more.
What Types of Lawsuits Qualify as Mass Torts?
Mass tort litigation typically involves three types of lawsuits:
- Consumer product claims seeking compensation for injuries caused by a defective or dangerous product.
- Pharmaceutical claims seeking compensation for injuries caused by defective or dangerous drug or medicine.
- Medical device claims seeking compensation for injuries caused by a defective or dangerous medical device.
8 thoughts onWhat is a Mass Tort?
In mass torte which would give the highest settlement? The person injured still here
or if the person dies and leaves a wife and child behind?
im currently part of the risperdal gynacomastia mass tort case. im diagnosed with gynacomastia tardive dyskenisia infertility and e.d. all due to my consumption of this drug. i have submitted all of this evidence to my lawyers and are still in the litigation process of this ordeal. can anybody enlighten me and provide me some info on what i should be expecting throughout the case due process and if and when the case has concluded if won on average what kind of payout is expected on this type of case?
I had an injury involving the Davinci robot and had an atty. But they could not help me after over spending 9 months on my case . The statue of limitations are up is there anything else that can be done? The reason for my suit was because they did t set the machine on the proper setting resting g in a tear for my hysterectomy
Here at Top Class Actions, we report on class action lawsuits and settlements around the country to bring awareness to you, our viewers. We do not actually file any lawsuits as we are not attorneys, and therefore cannot offer legal advice.
We offer a submission form on our website for you to fill out if you are seeking class action legal help. Attorneys will then review your submission to determine if you have a case. If they feel you qualify, they will contact you directly. You can submit your information here: https://topclassactions.com/start-a-class-action/. You may want to consult your own attorney, and should you choose to go that route, we recommend checking out http://www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-attorney. Once there, you will be able to search a broad database of specialized attorneys in your area that you may consult.
You may also want to Google โDa Vinci Robot class action lawsuitโ. You may find some law firms you can contact. We wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of justice!
I need a GREAT LAWFIRM 2 take my case.I suffered & survived from a little known,but highly Fatal thing called Serontoningenic Syndrom. Was put into a Propanol induced coma.Spent a week in ICU. Took 2 different hospitals in order 2 save my life. Please !!, take my case !!
Hi Paula, Here at Top Class Actions, we report on class action lawsuits and settlements around the country to bring awareness to you, our viewers. We do not actually file any lawsuits as we are not attorneys, and therefore cannot offer legal advice. We do offer a submission form on our website for you to fill out if you are seeking class action legal help. Attorneys will then review your submission to determine if you have a case. If they feel you qualify, they will contact you directly. You can submit your information here: https://topclassactions.com/start-a-class-action/. You may want to consult your own attorney, and should you choose to go that route, we recommend checking out http://www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-attorney. Once there, you will be able to search a broad database of specialized attorneys in your area that you may consult.
We wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of justice!
I need to know after they finish the case each person agree to a settlement how long do it take for us to get our money we also signed paperwork saying how much it was going to get so how long is this going to take
Hi Nina,
It sounds like you may need to contact the attorney that represented you for an update on your settlement. If it was a class action settlement, you should contact the settlement administrator for an update on your claim. Good Luck!