Recent Article Addresses Weaknesses of MDL Statute

The Winter 2007 issue of the Review of Litigation includes an article written by Yvette Ostolaza and Michelle Hartmann, entitled Multidistrict Ligitation Rules at the State and Federal Level. Here is the abstract:

Enacted in 1968, 28 U.S.C. § 1407 (the "MDL Statute") permits the transfer and consolidation of related cases pending in federal districts throughout the United States. In practice, the MDL Statute has been instrumental in expeditiously disposing of thousands of complex cases. As enacted, however, the MDL Statute has its limitations. Most notable is the absence from the MDL Statute of any formal mechanism for coordinating related cases pending in both state and federal courts. This Article discusses ways to overcome this "gap" in the MDL Statute and provides a checklist for practitioners involved in multidistrict litigation before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ("the MDL Panel").

The citation for the article is 26 REVLITIG 47K.