subject: "Class Action" Lawsuits and "Multidistrict Litigation": What's The Difference to DePuy Replacement Hip Recipients [print this page] "Class Action" Lawsuits and "Multidistrict Litigation": What's The Difference to DePuy Replacement Hip Recipients
Yesterday, we reported on the DePuy hip recall lawsuits in Great Britain. There, 78 hip implant recipients joined together in a class action lawsuit against the company. In the United States, you may hear that cases are being consolidated into "multidistrict litigation" (MDL for short), and you may also hear of DePuy being sued in class action lawsuits. You probably want to know the difference between the two because it may impact your case and your damage award from DePuy.
First of all, while most non-lawyers have heard of class actions, they probably haven't heard of MDL. Are they the same thing? No. To simplify the concept: A class action lawsuit is one in which the number of potential plaintiffs is so large and their claims against the defendant sufficiently varied that individual lawsuits against the defendant would be impractical. The goal is for all the individual plaintiffs to shift the responsibility for representing them in the case to a small group of plaintiffs. Sometimes most plaintiffs only minimally interact with lawyers, if at all. The damages in a class action lawsuit are often evenly distributed among the plaintiffs regardless of the severity of their injuries.
Multidistrict litigation, by contrast is more complex. Plaintiffs must contact attorneys to file their lawsuits. These cases are then consolidated to one "transferee judge" in one court. From there, though, the process differs. The individual plaintiffs gain equal access to all the defendants' records, witnesses, and other materials gained in what lawyers call "discovery"the process in which parties disclose information to one another, no matter how damaging to their own cases it may be. Importantly, the plaintiffs' cases remain individually active. They are not combined into one case as in a class action. By granting the plaintiffs' equal access to the defendant's discovery information, their work, the defendant's work, and especially the court's work is reduced. The individual plaintiffs benefit because their damage awards or settlements will be better tailored to their cases. MDL also speeds up settlements so the plaintiffs can be compensated without taking their cases to trial.
In the context of DePuy's hip replacement recall, it may be advantageous for some to join a class action lawsuit, but it may be better for others to file individual lawsuits in MDL. If your hip implant is affected by the recall, and you want to know what legal options are best for you, contact the Rottenstein Law Group for a free initial consultation.
In Part 2, we will discuss the status of DePuy hip implant lawsuits, class action and MDL.
