ACTIVE MDL DOCKETS
162
As of Jul 1, 2026
An MDL exists under 28 U.S.C. § 1407: the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transfers cases pending in different federal districts to a single judge for pretrial work — discovery, motions, and settlement talks. Nothing about the transfer merges the claims: every plaintiff keeps their own suit, their own lawyer, and their own decision on any settlement offer.
MDLs now dominate American civil justice. Roughly two-thirds of all pending federal civil cases sit in MDLs, up from 29% in 2012. You are in an MDL only if you file your own lawsuit — unlike a class action, doing nothing gets you nothing.
Sources & attribution