First MDL-Specific Rule Set for December

First MDL-Specific Rule Set for December Implementation

FY2024 data reinforce the need for the rule and process to address meritless claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 25, 2025 – A new rule that will govern multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceedings took its final step towards implementation this week when the U.S. Supreme Court transmitted proposed Rule 16.1 of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) to Congress. FRCP 16.1 will take effect on December 1, 2025, unless Congress takes action to stop it, which is not anticipated.

This important development comes as newly released data from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) and the United States Courts, analyzed by Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ), shows that 67.8% of the federal civil caseload (326,539 cases out of 481,533 federal civil cases) resides in MDLs as of the end of fiscal year 2024 (FY24). The percentage of civil cases in MDLs has risen precipitously in the last decade -- from 29% in FY12 to recently hovering around 70% -- highlighting the need for this new rule to address the unique procedural challenges posed by MDLs.

“The management and resolution of many large MDLs is severely hampered by the presence of unexamined, and often meritless, claims,” said Alex Dahl, General Counsel, Lawyers for Civil Justice. “If used properly, the new Rule 16.1 will give courts and parties a new tool to prevent claims that don’t belong in the MDL from interfering with the fair and efficient litigation of the key issues.”

LCJ launched its Rules4MDLs campaign in April 2018 following its August 2017 Request for Rulemaking to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, which proposed amending the FRCP to solve several recurring problems in MDL proceedings. LCJ’s advocacy throughout the years-long rulemaking process for an effective version of Rule 16.1 is reflected in its comment letters (additional comments here and here) and in a letter signed by the general counsels of 55 companies.

“Thoughtful utilization of the new Rule 16.1 is the next step – it’s vital that courts and parties employ the rule to achieve much-needed fairness and efficiency in large MDLs,” said LCJ’s Executive Director Dan Steen. “LCJ and its members look forward to the rule’s taking effect on December 1st – and being applied even before then— to ensure balance in MDLs, which are too often tied up and delayed by claims that lack merit.”

For its civil caseload calculation, LCJ uses the Duke Law Center methodology established in 2014, which excludes all Social Security cases and prisoner cases, except death penalty cases, that generally do not take the time of Article III judges.

For more information on Lawyers for Civil Justice’s efforts to bring fairness, clarity, consistency and efficiency to all civil cases, please visit Rules4MDLs.com and lfcj.com or contact us at media@rules4mdls.com.

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