Bellwether

Philadelphia Mass Tort Over Bladder Drug Concludes Without Bellwether Trial, Confidential Settlements Reached

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Philadelphia’s coordinated litigation over bladder medication Elmiron is coming to a close. The mass tort had its first trial scheduled to begin on Monday, but the majority of cases have been resolved through confidential settlements in the past six months. Tobi Millrood, partner at Kline & Specter and plaintiffs liaison counsel, provided this information. The Philadelphia mass tort involved numerous cases related to the use of Elmiron, a bladder medication. Confidential settlements have been reached for most of the cases in the program, leading to the cancellation of the bellwether trial. This trial would have … Read more

Delays in Paragard Bellwether Trial Plot the Course for Multidistrict Litigation

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Atlanta, Georgia – The Paragard multidistrict litigation (MDL) is facing further delays as the first bellwether trial has been pushed back once again. The trial, which aims to assess how juries will react to evidence and testimony in thousands of Paragard lawsuits, was originally scheduled for March 4, 2024. However, an amended scheduling order issued by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May has now set the new trial date for October 28, 2024. Judge May has implemented a bellwether program as part of the pretrial proceedings, where a select number of representative cases are prepared … Read more

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Raises Concerns Over Bellwether Trials in Mass Tort Cases

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Washington, D.C. – Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has raised concerns about the use of bellwether trials in mass tort cases. Thomas argues that these trials, which are meant to serve as a representative sample for resolving similar cases, often carry significant weight in influencing settlement talks. He believes that this approach can infringe upon defendants’ rights, stating that “individual rights may matter less than judicial convenience” in these cases. Bellwether trials involve selecting a small number of cases from a large pool of similar claims. The outcomes of these trials are then used to … Read more

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Raises Concerns about Legitimacy of Mass-Tort Bellwether Trials

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Washington D.C. – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has expressed his concerns about the binding nature of mass-tort bellwether trials in multidistrict litigation. In a recent dissent from the Supreme Court’s decision to deny certiorari in an appeal by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Thomas voiced his “serious doubts” about using bellwether trials to prevent defendants from relitigating issues that have already been decided in lawsuits by different plaintiffs. The issue arose in a class action suit filed by 80,000 residents who sued E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. over the … Read more