Insights & Events

Hollingsworth LLP partner Gary Feldon gave an interview to Law360 for an article regarding Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1, the first federal rule specific to multidistrict litigation, which went into effect on December 1.

The product of a nearly eight-year rulemaking process, FRCP 16.1 formalizes MDL case management tools, endorses early judicial engagement with the merits of the case, and establishes a process for picking leadership counsel. Unlike most federal rules, almost none of the MDL management ideas laid out in FRCP 16.1 are mandatory, and the Advisory Committee Note stresses the importance of maintaining MDL judges’ “flexibility.”

What FRCP 16.1 provides mass tort litigators is “a recognition and an endorsement of existing case management tools that had previously developed as sort of an MDL-specific quasi-recognized shadow procedure,” said Feldon. FRCP 16.1 confirms judges’ authority to require all MDL plaintiffs to produce granular information and documentation up front. This information helps defense lawyers start to inventory what they’re grappling with and start comparing apples to apples within the MDL. When plaintiffs cannot put evidence on the table, FRCP 16.1 also formalizes the permissibility of so-called Lone Pine orders and other expedited procedures for culling unsupported claims. These tools are important because, as Feldon said, “[y]ou need a process to efficiently figure out what those cases are worth.”

Law360 subscribers can access the full article online.