Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation - Judicial Business 2012

The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation acted upon 22,319 civil actions pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 during 2012. The Panel transferred 6,909 cases originally filed in 92 district courts to 46 transferee districts for inclusion in coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with 15,410 actions initiated in the transferee districts. The Panel did not order transfer in 54 newly docketed sets of litigation involving 332 actions.

Product liability cases dealing with joint implants and pelvic repair products were among the more significant of the Panel’s transfer determinations. Litigation involving sales practices and/or product liability once again was the most common category for the 62 sets of litigation transferred this year, although patent litigation experienced notable growth, rising from 3 transferred sets of litigation last year to 9 in 2012.

Since its creation in 1968, the Panel has centralized 415,995 civil actions for pretrial proceedings. By the end of 2012, a total of 13,065 actions had been remanded for trial, 398 had been reassigned within the transferee districts, 341,836 had been terminated in the transferee courts, and 60,696 were pending throughout 54 transferee district courts.

Supplemental tables S-19 and S-20 provide statistics on the number of cases transferred since the Panel was created, presenting data on the flow of cases into and out of the districts during the current fiscal year and cumulative since 1968.

All statistical information on multidistrict litigation traffic in the federal courts is maintained by the clerk’s office of the Panel. Information on specific cases or districts may be obtained from that office.