Transferee courts issue sequentially numbered pretrial orders addressing leadership appointment, master pleadings, fact sheets, discovery protocols, privilege procedures, bellwether selection, and settlement administration.
They apply to all cases in the MDL and to later-transferred actions.
Alternative Names:
MDL Pretrial Order, Numbered Pretrial Order
Why it Matters?
These orders function as the governing law of the proceeding and frequently number in the hundreds over a large MDL's life. Counsel entering an established MDL must review the full sequence, because obligations imposed years earlier continue to apply to newly transferred cases. Missing a fact sheet deadline imposed by an order predating the client's transfer is a recurring and avoidable failure.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How many pretrial orders does an MDL generate?
What must newly transferred counsel do?
