The first “bellwether trials” involving the General Motors ignition switch recall lawsuits will begin Jan. 11, 2016, a federal judge has decided.

There are more than 100 personal injury, wrongful death and economic loss GM lawsuits in addition to two GM class action lawsuits filed on behalf of 30 million GM consumers accusing the automaker of lying about the safety of its vehicles both before and after GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

More GM ignition switch lawsuits are expected to be filed.

GM has recalled 30 million vehicles worldwide in 78 campaigns, including 26.5 million in the United States.

Because of the large number of GM lawsuits filed against the automaker raising similar allegations, a federal panel created a GM multidistrict litigation, or MDL, to more efficiently process the GM ignition switch lawsuits by reducing duplicative discovery or conflicting court rulings. The GM lawsuits are being heard in a New York federal court.

Bellwether trials are intended to see how juries may rule on similar evidence and testimony. Bellwether cases help reduce duplicative discovery, avoid conflicting rulings from different federal judges and mitigate the inconvenience of the various parties, witnesses and the courts.

Bellwether cases are intended to provide a good indication of the outcome of future trials (since they contain similar facts). Bellwether trials give the judge, the plaintiffs and the defendants sufficient information to determine whether future cases should be tried or settled.

The GM lawsuits center around safety defects that caused the vehicles’ ignition switches to inadvertently move from the ‘run’ position to the ‘accessory’ or ‘off’ position during ordinary driving conditions, resulting in a loss of power, vehicle speed control and braking, as well as a failure of the vehicle’s airbags to deploy.

The sudden loss of power can cause a moving car to stall in traffic and the deactivation of the airbag system, while impeding the power steering and brakes.

Two GM class action lawsuits accuse the automaker of lying about the safety of its vehicles both before and after GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

One GM class action lawsuit alleges that more than 60 recalls affecting more than 27 million GM cars and trucks sold in the United States for model years 1997 to 2014 have caused consumers to lose value in their vehicles.

The first GM lawsuit covers all GM vehicles sold after the company’s bankruptcy proceedings and accuses the automaker of misrepresentation, concealment and non-disclosure of a numerous serious safety defects.

The second one seeks compensation for millions of GM vehicle owners over the ignition switch defect.