Johnathan Perkins: What Is Multidistrict Litigation?

An associate attorney at the Philadelphia law firm of Anapol Schwarz, Johnathan Perkins frequently participates in the preparation of multidistrict litigation lawsuits (MDLs). In this arena, his responsibilities include the research and drafting of legal documents as well as the analysis of discoveries.

A function of the federal court system, multidistrict litigation occurs when multiple civil cases involve common questions of fact. When a question of fact arises in a court case, this indicates that the facts of the case are in dispute and therefore must be resolved prior to judgment. In situations where the same facts are disputed across multiple cases, the coordination of these cases leads to more effective, as well as more efficient, proceedings.

MDLs fall under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a division of the federal court system. The panel consists of several justices and one chairperson who decide whether an MDL is appropriate in a particular case. Once the decision has been made to transfer a case, a single federal judge takes all included cases into his or her docket.