Federal Multi-District Litigations (MDLs) have become a mainstay since their inception in 1968. Numerous motions for centralization are filed and granted. Based on statistics reported by the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (JPML), over the past decade alone, 359 motions for centralization were granted. Not only can the early retention of resolution counsel help a company formulate an effective integrated defense strategy, but many MDL judges now expect the involvement of resolution counsel.  

Depending on the type of case, the large majority of matters pending in MDLs that survive summary judgment or another type of dismissal end in settlement. Typically, only a small percentage of all mass tort cases go to trial, and even fewer are tried to verdict, while the remaining cases end in resolution. Why, then, do most defendants spend the majority of their time preparing for the small percentage of cases that may actually be tried by a jury and spend so little time on the rest? 

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