mass tort
{{Short description|Civil lawsuit involving many plaintiffs and few defendants}}
A mass tort is a civil action involving numerous plaintiffs against one or a few defendants in state or federal court. The lawsuits arise out of the defendants causing numerous injuries through the same or similar act of harm (e.g. a prescription drug, a medical device, a defective product, a train accident, a plane crash, pollution, or a construction disaster).
Law firms sometimes use mass media to reach potential plaintiffs.
The main categories of mass torts include:
- Medical device injuries
- Motor vehicle defects{{Cite web |title=New Haven Mass Tort Lawyers |url=https://www.ltke.com/personal-injury/class-action-mass-torts/mass-torts/ |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=LTKE Law |language=en-US}}
- Prescription drug injuries
- Product liability injuries
- Toxic contamination
In U.S. federal courts, mass tort claims are often consolidated as multidistrict litigation. In some cases, mass torts are addressed through a class action.
In popular culture
- {{cite book|title=The King of Torts|year=2003|publisher=Delta|isbn=978-0385339650|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1BfDy8N3XoC|author=John Grisham|author-link=John Grisham}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|last=Nagareda|first=Richard A.|title=Mass Torts in a World of Settlement|year=2007|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=9780226567600|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0e0CxGhyQ88C}}
- {{cite book|last1=Dunbar|first1=Frederick D.|title=Estimating Future Claims: Case Studies from Mass Tort and Product Liability|year=1996|publisher=Andrews Professional Books|location=Wayne, Pennsylvania|isbn=978-0963624680|first2=Denise |last2=Martin |first3=Phoebus J. |last3=Dhrymes }}
- {{cite book|title=Individual Justice in Mass Tort Litigation|year=1995|publisher=Northwestern University Press|isbn=9780810111882|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tH5nHmwWDjgC|author=Jack B. Weinstein}}
- {{cite book|title=Mass Tort Litigation: Cases and Materials (American Casebooks)|year=2008|publisher=Thomson West|isbn=978-0314232311|first=Linda S.|last=Mullenix|edition=2}}
- {{cite book|last=Sanders|first=Joseph|title=Bendectin on Trial: A Study of Mass Tort Litigation|year=1998|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0472096015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQOdskzLTzEC}}
- {{cite book|title=Report on Mass Tort Litigation|year=1999|publisher=Diane Pub Co|isbn=978-0756705039|editor=Paul V. Niemeyer and Anthony J. Scirica}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation/ Mass Tort Litigation Blog]
- [http://druganddevicelaw.blogspot.com/2007/06/anatomy-of-mass-tort.html Anatomy of a Mass Tort]
- [http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9021/index1.html Understanding Mass Personal Injury Litigation]
- [http://library.findlaw.com/2004/Sep/23/133580.html Cutting-Edge Approaches for Managing Mass Tort Litigation in the New Millenium (sic)]
- [https://sloanlawfirmnj.com/practice-areas/car-accident-attorney/ Car Accident Injury Claims]
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