BLG Attorney Appointed To Leadership Role In MDL Against Ford Motor Company
May 20, 2011- Barrett Law Group, PA attorney and co-founding member, Richard Barrett has been appointed by United States District Judge Matthew Kennelly to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the In re: Navistar Diesel Engine Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2223 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. This Multi-District Litigation (“MDL”) is based on the sale of faulty 6.0L diesel engines in certain models of heavy duty vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company between 2003-2007 .
When there are numerous lawsuits pending around the same issue(s), all against the same company or group of companies, the cases are typically consolidated into one district under one judge (or group of judges) to more efficiently deal with the litigation. This is known as Multi-District litigation. But the formation of the MDL is just the first step in this streamlining process: the next step is for the court in control to approve a team of a small number of Plaintiff lawyers to oversee the entire litigation process. This team is called the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (“PSC”).
The Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee serves as a guiding force on the plaintiffs’ side in a MDL. The attorneys appointed to the Navistar MDL PSC have very specific tasks which ultimately will coordinate the litigation and work together to represent all plaintiffs. It is the responsibility of PSC team members to conduct all pretrial discovery, work with Lead Counsel to call meetings of counsel for plaintiffs for any appropriate purpose, prepare and examine witnesses, act as a spokesperson for all plaintiffs at pretrial proceedings, negotiate with defendants on the litigation and perform any other necessary tasks.
The appointment of the PSC helps facilitate the recovery and settlement process and for representing all plaintiffs, and though prestigious and a true honor to be appointed, the role of a PSC member is intense and time consuming.