Daniel Nigh, Founding Partner at Nigh Goldenberg Raso & Vaughn, explains the stages of a lawsuit in a multi-district litigation (MDL). In part 1 of the series, Daniel covers the initial stages of an MDL, including early case filings, the formation of MDL leadership, obtaining documents from corporate defendants, and deposing key corporate witnesses.
In part 2, Daniel Nigh covers the bellwether phase of a multi-district litigation. The bellwether phase assists both sides in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the litigation in general and as to specific fact patterns and state law.
In part 3, Daniel Nigh covers the expert bellwether phase of a multi-district litigation. The expert bellwether phase requires experts to write extensive expert reports supporting that the product caused a specific plaintiff’s injuries. Both sides get to depose the experts and then argue to the court why an expert should or should not be allowed to testify. The determination by the judge greatly impacts how the litigation moves forward.
Daniel covers the pretrial and trial stage of an MDL in part 4 of his series. Daniel explains that the pretrial and trial phase of an MDL allows for both sides to better understand the general strengths and weaknesses of the litigation. The bellwether trials typically help the two sides reach a resolution based on what they have learned.
In part 5, Daniel covers the settlement phase of an MDL. Negotiations in the settlement phase can span years, though it might appear as if nothing is happening because the settlement negotiations are highly confidential. MDL settlements typically happen as either a global settlement, which is when all cases in the MDL are resolved at the same time, or they can happen as inventory settlements, which is when all individuals represented by a specific law firm are settled at the same time.
Daniel discusses the settlement administration process after a preliminary settlement has been achieved in an MDL in part 6 below. The settlement administration process itself can last an additional year or two, and in some rare cases even longer.
Daniel explains how settlement values are determined in an MDL and how health insurance liens impact the ultimate amount a client recovers in part 7 of his series on the stages of a lawsuit in an MDL.
In the last part of the series on stages of a lawsuit in an MDL, Daniel Nigh explains what happens if the lawsuits in an MDL don’t settle – the individual lawsuits are remanded to the jurisdictions where the claims could have been filed for trial.
