Protracted MDLs bench-bar leadership Conference

Co-Hosted by the Cleveland State University School of Law

June 13-14, 2024

The Center will hold a bench-bar leadership conference addressing protracted mass-tort MDLs, which take more than seven years to fully dispose of all actions, at the Cleveland State University School of Law in May 2024. As the number of individual actions filed in mass-tort MDLs is growing, so too is the number of years in resolving all the actions. Although not yet as bad as the ignominiously branded “black hole” asbestos-MDL period, the trends are disturbing. This conference will explore the causes of the longer disposition times from the perspectives of the key players in mass-tort MDLs.

Panel 1 – Statistics on Protracted MDLs
Panel 2 – Causes of Delay – Defense’s Perspective
Panel 3 – Causes of Delay – Plaintiffs’ Perspective
Panel 4 – Causes of Delay – Special Masters’ Perspective
Panel 5 – Causes of Delay – Judges’ Perspective
Panel 6 – Potential Solutions, Including: (i) Setting Deadline for Settlements; (ii) Setting Deadline for Filing Tag-Along Claims; (iii) Eliminating Option to Make a Direct Filing from “Outside” Districts and Establishing a Vetting Procedure in Transferor Courts; and (iv) Postponing JPML Centralization Decision until Mass Tort Reaches Maturity

CHATHAM HOUSE RULE

The conference will be held under the Chatham House Rule: “[P]articipants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), or that of any other participant, may be revealed.”

Registration

The registration fee for the conference is $1,200, which includes conference materials, a continental breakfast, coffee breaks, lunch, a group reception on Thursday evening, and grab-and-go snacks at adjournment. Two or more lawyers registering from the same law firm receive major discounts (single registrant – $1,200; second registrant – $950; and third and each additional registrant – $800). Early-bird registrations, in-house, and company discounts available.

CLE

CLE credit being aplied for from New Jersey state bar.

Conference Details

Agenda

Panelists

Materials

Registration