Tackling Controversial Problems in Mass-Tort MDLs Leadership Bench-Bar Summit

Tackling Controversial Problems in Mass-Tort MDLs Bench-Bar Summit

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law — July 10, 2025

The Center will hold a Bench-Bar Leadership Summit on Mass-Tort MDLs at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law on July 10, 2025, examining five general topics, including:

Setting Common-Benefit Fund Percentage Assessments and Reviewing Alternatives to Court-Imposed Lodestar Reporting;
Reducing Overproduction of Documents in Discovery;
Providing Sufficient Time to Locate Information to Support Actions Filed on “Information and Belief”;
Selection Process and Factors to Consider When Retaining a Claims Administrator in a Mass-Tort MDL; and
Promoting Opportunities for Magistrate Judges, including Recalled Magistrate Judges, To Try Bellwether Cases on Parties’ Consent.

Fifteen federal judges will join 20-25 practicing lawyers and other experts on five panels and consider recommending guidance addressing identified issues. Registrations for the summit will be limited to a maximum of 15 additional lawyers and other experts.

The smaller size and the addition of more federal judges will ensure an in-depth analysis and better inform the process drafting best practices after the summit. All attending are expected to participate in discussions.

Several recent mass-tort MDLs have applied a 10% assessment for common-benefit work. Lawyers report billable hours under the lodestar method for compensation. The summit will examine whether a “standard” 10% assessment is appropriate and whether court-imposed lodestar reporting is unnecessary and limits the plaintiff leadership’s flexibility to better allocate the 10% assessment.

Actions, counts, and defenses can be pled on “information and belief” without an evidentiary basis in the expectation that evidence will be found after filing the action and further investigation and discovery. The summit will examine developing guidance on a reasonable amount of time to find such an evidentiary basis and establishing an efficient and automated process to monitor progress.

The primary purpose of bellwether trials is to provide parties information on the likely outcome of individual cases. A single transferee judge, however, is limited in the number of bellwether trials that the judge can handle. The summit will discuss the opportunities of having multiple magistrate judges, including recalled magistrate judges, try bellwether cases on the parties’ consent.

Claims administrators perform a host of critical tasks processing and adjudicating claims, reconciling liens, and distributing funds after the mass-tort MDL is resolved. But the selection process is not transparent. The summit will examine developing guidance in the form of a checklist on the role of the court and factors to consider in selecting and monitoring the work of a claims administrator.

Millions of virtually useless documents continue to be produced in mass-tort MDL discovery with little objection. There are three main incentives driving overproduction of discovery documents. The summit will examine why such numbers are justified, particularly in light of ever advancing technological discovery tools.

Please forward any suggestions on how to best address problems that you experienced with common-benefit fund percentage assessments, narrowing of issues, and selection of a claims administrator in your mass-tort MDLs to contact@rabiejcenter.org.

The New Jersey state bar has approved CLE credit for 435 minutes (8.70 credits) for attending the summit.

Summit Details

Agenda

Tackling Controversial Mass-Tort MDL Problems Summit

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (July 10, 2025)

AGENDA

Wednesday, July 9

6:00 pm — 6:45 PM Reception: 6:45 pm – 9:00 pm: Dinner

Location: Shaw’s Crab House, 21 E. Hubbard Street

Thursday, July 10

Location: Northwestern University, Pritzker School of Law, Room RB 175, 420 E. Superior Street Entrance

7:45 am — 8:30 am: Continental Breakfast

8:30 am – 8:45 am: Welcome — Chief Judge Virginia Kendall, Northern District of Illinois; Opening Remarks — John Rabiej

PANELS

BIOS

ASSIGNED QUESTIONS FOR PANELISTS

Moderator – Rebecca Weinstein Bacon, Bartlit Beck LLP, former adjunct professor, Northwestern University, Pritzker School of Law

8:45 am – 10:15 am: Panel 1 – Setting Common-Benefit Fund Percentage Assessments and Reviewing Alternatives to Court-Imposed Lodestar Reporting

Andrews, Anne — Andrews & Thornton
DeGaris, Annesley — DeGaris Law
Mura, Andre — Gibbs Mura Law Group LLP
Koncius, Jeffrey — Kiesel Law LLP
Hon. Kennelly, Matthew — Northern District of Illinois
Hon. Dawson, Joe — District of South Carolina
Hon. Baker, Kristine — Eastern District of Arkansas
Hon. Wolfson, Freda — District of New Jersey (ret.); Lowenstein Sandler LLP

10:15 am – 10:30 am: Break

10:30 am – 12:00 pm: Panel 2 – Reducing Overproduction of Documents in Discovery

LaFata, Paul — Dechert LLP
Iverson, Kelly — Lynch Carpenter LLP
Coan, Geoffrey – Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
Oliver, Alyson – Oliver Bell Group
Fournier, Kristen – Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Hon. Childs, Michelle — Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Hon. Kendall, Virginia — Northern District of Illinois
Hon. Summerhays, Robert — Western District of Louisiana

12:00 pm — 12:45 pm: Lunch

12:45 pm – 2:15 pm: Panel 3 – Providing Sufficient Time to Locate Information to Support Actions Filed on “Information and Belief”

Dumoulin, Edward — Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP
Saucer, Ann – Nachawati Law Group
Segui, Harper — Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman
Dockterman, Michael — Steptoe LLP
Greenspan, Deborah — Blank Rome LLP
Hon. Tostrud, Eric — District of Minnesota
Hon. Berger, Wendy — Middle District of Florida
Hon. Yandle, Staci – Southern District of Illinois

2:15 pm – 2:30 pm: Break

2:30 pm – 4:00 pm: Panel 4 – Selection Process and Factors to Consider When Retaining Claims Administrator in a Mass-Tort MDL

Goldberg, Gary — Archer
Hodge, Brooke — Eisner Amper
Mekus, John — NextClaim Solutions
Reyburn, Robert – Alvarez & Marsal
Schachter, Eric — Angeion Group
Lambert, Palmer – Pendley, Baudin & Coffin LLP
Tatting, Troy — Verita
Kent, Emily — pwc

4:00 pm – 5:15 pm: Panel 5 – Promoting Opportunities for Magistrate Judges, including Recalled Magistrate Judges, To Try Bellwether Trials on Parties’ Consent

Jackson, Brian – Butler Snow LLP
Essig, William — Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Merrell, Cliff – Greenberg Traurig LLP
Luskey, Randy – Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Hon. Duffin, William — Eastern District Wisconsin
Hon. Garaufis, Nicholas — Eastern District of New York
Hon. Gayles, Darrin — Southern District of Florida

5:15 pm: Adjournment Grab-and-Go Snacks

Attendees

Attendees

Hon. Baker, Kristine — Eastern District of Arkansas
Hon. Berger, Wendy — Middle District of Florida
Hon. Childs, Michelle — Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Hon. Dawson, Joe — District of South Carolina
Hon. Duffin, William — Eastern District Wisconsin
Hon. Gayles, Darrin — Southern District of Florida
Hon. Garaufis, Nicholas — Eastern District of New York
Hon. Kendall, Virginia — Northern District of Illinois
Hon. Kennelly, Matthew — Northern District of Illinois
Hon. Summerhays, Robert — Western District of Louisiana
Hon. Tostrud, Eric — District of Minnesota
Hon. Wolfson, Freda — District of New Jersey (ret.); Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Hon. Yandle, Staci –Southern District of Illinois
Andrews, Anne — Andrews & Thornton
Bacon, Rebecca Weinstein — Bartlit Beck LLP
Coan, Geoffrey – Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
DeGaris, Annesley — DeGaris Law
DeLuca, Nicholas — Alvarez & Marsal
Dockterman, Michael — Steptoe LLP
Dumoulin, Edward — Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP
Essig, William — Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Fournier, Kristen — Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Friedman, Eric — Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Freeman, Michael — Walgreens
Gatto, Frank — Verita
Goldberg, Gary — Archer
Greenspan, Deborah — Blank Rome LLP
Hodge, Brooke — Eisner Amper
Iverson, Kelly — Lynch Carpenter LLP
Jackson, Brian – Butler Snow LLP
Kent, Emily — pwc
King, Mark — Ankura
Koncius, Jeffrey — Kiesel Law LLP
LaFata, Paul — Dechert LLP
Lambert, Palmer – Pendley, Baudin & Coffin LLP
Luskey, Randy – Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Mekus, John — NextClaim Solutions
Merrell, Cliff – Greenberg Traurig LLP
Mura, Andre — Gibbs Mura Law Group LLP
Oliver, Alyson – Oliver Bell Group
Opsitnick, Tim — TCDI
Rager, Dana — Western Alliance Bank
Reyburn, Robert – Alvarez & Marsal
Rodriguez, Leilah — Andrews & Thornton
Roth, Mason — JND
Saucer, Ann – Nachawati Law Group
Schachter, Eric — Angeion Group
Segui, Harper – Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman
Sweitzer, Jennifer — NextClaim Solutions
Swift, Kate — Bartlit Beck LLP
Tatting, Troy — Verita

Materials

SUMMIT MATERIALS

PANEL 1 — Setting Common-Benefit Fund Percentage Assessments and Reviewing Alternatives to Lodestar Method

List of common-benefit percentage assessments in recent mass-tort MDLs (Download)
In Re Bard IVC Filters Prods. Liab. Litig., 603 F.Supp.3d 822 (D. Ariz. 2022) (legal analysis supporting common benefit-fund assessments affecting non-MDL cases, including related state cases) (Download)
Law Offices of Ben C. Martin v. Babbitt & Johnson PA, No. 22-15872 (9th Cir. Aug. 24, 2023) (affirming lower court ruling in Bard IVC Filter Prods. Liab. Litig.) (Download)
Pelvic Repair Systems, MDL. No. 2325 (J. Goodwin), Pretrial Order No. 273, (Affirming methodology for calculating common-benefit fund percentage assessment) (Download)
Pelvic Repair Systems, MDL. No. 2326 Final Written Recommendation of the Common Benefit Fee and Cost Committee (March 12, 2019) (Analysis of subjective judgments when applying lodestar method) (Download)
In re Syngenta AG Mir 162 Corn Litig., Appellate Case: 19-3008 (10th Cir. Feb. 28, 2023) (affirming district court’s allocation of 90% of contingency fees [49%, 24%, 15%, and 12% respectivey] to three regional pools of law firms and 10% to a pool of iindividually retained private attorneys) (Download)
Letter from Complex Civil Litigation Program for the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles to Advisory Committee on Civil Rules on Rule 16.1 (Feb. 2, 2024) (recommending that committee not impose lodestar reporting and permit plaintiff lawyers to determine the common-benefit assessment themselves) (Download)
Joseph Grundfest and Gal Dor, Lodestar Multipliers in Delaware and Federal Attorney Fee Awards, The Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Rock Center Working Paper #263 (May 13, 2025) (comparing lodestar multipliers of seven or more awarded in Delaware state court and federal class actions) (Download)
Hon. Eldon Fallon, Common Benefit Fees in Multidistrict Litigation, 74 Louisiana L. Rev., Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 381-386 (2014) (discussion of Third Circuit Task Force report identifying nine serious drawbacks of lodestar method) (Download)

PANEL 2 — Reducing Overproduction of Documents in Discovery

Mass-Tort MDLs with more than one million documents produced in discovery, Rabiej Litigation Law Center (Download)
In re 3M Combat Arms Earplug Prod. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 2885, Pretrial Order No. 12 Protocol Relating to Use of Technology Assisted Review (July 1, 2019) (Random sampling of non-responsive documents reviewed by both parties) (Download)
Actavis Holdco US, Inc. v. State of Connecticut, Respondent’s Objection to Application for Stay Pending Certiorari, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 19A906 (production of every document “hit” by search terms) (Download)
In Re Depo-Provera (Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate) Prod. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 3140, Common Benefit Order No. 1 (March 11, 2025) (Litigation budgets) (Download)
Excerpts from Committee Notes to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 and Fed. R. Evid. 401 on meaning of “relevant” (Download)
Excerpts from report containing Cost-Bearing Rule 26 Amendments Recommended by Advisory Committee on Civil Rules and Approved by Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, but Rejected by Judicial Conference of the United States (September 1999) (Download)
Remarks from Hon. Paul Niemeyer and Hon. Vaughn Walker, Rabiej Litigation Law Center/TCDI Discovery Webinar, June 23, 2025, on Supreme Court and Rules Committee’s Treatment of Scope of Discovery and AI Search Tools Mimicking Human Decision-Making (Download)

PANEL 3 — Providing Sufficient Time to Locate Information to Support Actions Filed on “Information and Belief”

In Re Bard Implanted Port Catheter, MDL No. 3081, amended CMO 8 (Mar. 11, 2024) (providing 30 days after filing to submit medical records) (Download)
J.C.C.P. No. 4674, Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, General Asbestos Litigation Case Management Order (July 8, 2022) (Selection of single vendor to collect, process, and acquire medical records) (Download)
Comments from Bayer, Inc., Number of hearings required to dispose of case (October 15, 2023) (Download)

PANEL 4 — Selection Process and Factors to Consider When Retaining a Claims Administrator in a Mass-Tort MDL

Checklist of potential functions of claims administrator, Rabiej Litigation Law Center (Download))
How Private Equity Owned Companies Quietly Pocket Class Action Payouts, Jeff Kauflin, Forbes (May 21, 2025) (Download)

PANEL 5 — Promoting Opportunties for Magistrate Judges, Including Recalled Magistrate Judges, to Try Bellwether Trials on Parties’ Consent

Table M-5: U.S. District Courts — Civil Consent Cases Terminated by U.S. Magistrate Judges Under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), by Disposition, During the 12-Month Period Ending December 31, 2024 (Download)
28 U.S.C. § 636(c) — Civil Case Trials Handled by Magistrate Judge on Parties’ Consent (Download)
Hon. George Hanks, Jr., Searching from Within: The Role of Magistrate Judges in Federal Multi-District Litigation, 99 Judicature, No.1 (2015) (Download)

Download

Registration

Regular Registration — $950.

Multiple Registrations —Two or more lawyers registering from the same law firm receive discounts (single registrant – $950; second registrant – $750; and third and each additional registrant – $700).

In-House Counsel Discount —The registration fee for in-house counsel whose company does not provide a budget for continuing education and training is $250.

Please check the “Other Registration” box under “Registration Type” and insert the discounted fee amount.

Tackling Controversial Problems in Mass-Tort MDLs Bench-Bar Summit

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law — July 10, 2025

Summit Details

Common-Benefit Fund Percentage Assessment BENCH-BAR LEADERSHIP SUMMIT