The transferee court appoints plaintiffs' leadership, typically a steering committee and sometimes an executive committee and liaison counsel, along with defense leadership in multi-defendant proceedings.
Appointed leadership conducts common benefit work and speaks for the parties in case management.
Alternative Names:
MDL Leadership, Committee Structure
Why it Matters?
Leadership appointment determines who controls strategy and, through the common benefit fund, who is compensated from the eventual recovery. Appointment applications are competitive and consider experience, resources, and case inventory. For defendants, understanding the composition matters because leadership's litigation posture and settlement appetite drive the proceeding far more than the views of individual filing firms.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Who appoints MDL leadership?
What does leadership control?
