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Mass Tort

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When it comes to Mass Torts, Morgan & Morgan is experienced at handling and streamlining the complexities and substantial administrative details that are the hallmark of extensive, complicated multi-district actions. These cases can include some of the largest corporations in the country as defendants, multiple groups of lawyers, several jurisdictions, and billions of dollars. Following our Everywhere for Everyone mantra, our Mass Tort team is prepared and ready to take on referrals from anywhere in the country in the cases we are pursuing.

Recent Verdict

Gas Leak - Porter Ranch, CA - 2021
People vs Southern California Gas Co
Mike Morgan, Frank Petosa, Rena Rocha

1800000000

CASES WE HANDLE

Abbott Baby Formula
AFFF
Baby Formula
Camp LeJeune
Exactech Joint Replacement
Elmiron
Hair Relaxers
JUUL
Paraquat
Philips CPAP
Social Media Harm
Talcum Powder
Tepezza
Valsartan

The word “tort” describes a wrongful act causing harm. Torts can be accidental or intentional. Victims injured by a tort generally have legal recourse and could file a lawsuit to recover compensation for their injuries and losses. Most mass torts are filed at the federal level.

A mass tort can arise when a wrongful action or negligence causes harm to many individuals who all have a claim against one defendant, often a business or corporation.

Mass torts often deal with dangerous medications, faulty medical devices, and other defective products. A mass tort can arise, for example, when many hundreds or even thousands of individuals get hurt by the same prescription drug.

The Most Common Types of Mass Torts

According to the American Bar Association (ABA), mass torts can deal with various cases, ranging from airplane accidents to asbestos claims. However, some of the more common mass torts we see include:

Defective Drugs

Almost all of us rely on over-the-counter or prescription drugs, whether for a temporary or permanent health condition. Modern medications extend lives and can cure many potentially deadly diseases. However, if an unscrupulous drug manufacturer puts profits before the health and well-being of patients, individuals could face devastating and even life-threatening consequences. Since a defective drug can have detrimental effects on numerous individuals, harmful drugs often give rise to mass torts.

If your client suffered devastating side effects from a medication, leaving them hospitalized or even permanently injured, get in touch with us. There could be many other patients who took the drug and suffered from the same problems. Our mass tort case lawyers can help you understand your client’s rights and move forward with a lawsuit, if applicable.

Exposure to Toxic Substances

Exposure to toxic substances frequently leads to mass torts. If many individuals develop an illness or injury due to exposure to a toxic chemical or substance, such as asbestos, mass tort claims could arise.

Individuals can be exposed to harmful substances while at work or in their own homes. Dangerous drugs or defective products can also potentially expose consumers to dangerous toxic substances.

Dangerous Products

Defective products, such as medical devices and others, are common subjects of mass torts. Product manufacturers are responsible for making their products reasonably safe for consumers and provide adequate instructions and warnings. If a manufacturer neglects safety, injured consumers can potentially hold them to account for damages. Manufacturers and other parties could be responsible for:

Defects occurring during manufacture
The defective design of a product
Failure to provide adequate instructions or warnings

Many mass torts arise from defective medical devices such as faulty hip joints, pacemakers, IUDs, knee replacements and others. Since some medical devices are implanted into the body, injured individuals can suffer great harm and high financial losses from a defective medical device.

The Benefits of Mass Torts

A mass tort can be an efficient way to sue as all cases are heard in a single court rather than as individual lawsuits in different courts around the country. Other benefits for plaintiffs include:

Plaintiffs’ attorneys can coordinate and pool their resources
Mass torts create publicity allowing more plaintiffs to come forward, strengthening the case
Strength in numbers with many plaintiffs suffering injury and harm from a single event, drug, or device
Even if the mass tort fails to settle, plaintiffs can use the evidence gathered to litigate their individual cases

The cons of a mass tort mainly affect the defendants as they may have to contend with significant negative publicity from a high-profile mass tort. Moreover, a mass tort is generally faster than regular litigation, which works to the defendant’s disadvantage. Large corporations with unlimited resources often try to prolong lawsuits indefinitely, hoping that plaintiffs and their attorneys run out of money. However, with a mass tort, this is unlikely.

Compensation Available in Mass Torts

To recover compensation in a mass tort, plaintiffs must prove that they used the drug or device in question and show evidence for their resulting injuries and losses. Depending on your client’s damages, they could potentially pursue compensation for:

Medical expenses
Lost income
Reduced earning capacity
Disability
Disfigurement
Pain and suffering
Emotional distress
Your client could also receive other damages depending on the nature and scope of injury, age, and other case facts.

The Differences Between Mass Torts and Class-Action Lawsuits

Mass torts and class actions both involve a group of plaintiffs harmed similarly by one defendant. However, there are some profound differences between the two.

Class Action Lawsuits

In a class action lawsuit, the lead plaintiff and attorney usually handle the case on behalf of all other plaintiffs. Plaintiffs in a class action are considered as one collective entity, the “class”. Those within the class have been harmed in the same way and suffered similar injuries or losses.
Importantly, if a class action lawsuit is won, the responsible party typically pays a lump sum to the class. This settlement is then divided among the plaintiffs. Every person receives the same amount of compensation without considering their actual damages. Therefore, those who suffered bigger losses may not recover a fair settlement and could be disadvantaged in class action lawsuits.

Mass Tort Lawsuits

While mass tort plaintiffs also come together in a group to sue the defendant, each individual has a distinct claim. Members of the group are treated separately. Moreover, each plaintiff can make their own decision on whether to accept a settlement or refuse the offer. Since each claim is treated as an individual personal injury case with a mass tort, victims can pursue fair and adequate damages for their individual losses.

Multidistrict Mass Tort Litigation

Mass torts can be litigated with “multidistrict litigation” (MDL). MDLs tend to occur after individuals suffering similar damages due to a company’s wrongdoing have already filed multiple lawsuits in federal court.

The judge overseeing an MDL generally appoints a group of attorneys (the plaintiffs’ steering committee) to conduct discovery on behalf of all harmed individuals. Additionally, a group of plaintiffs (called “Bellwether plaintiffs”) is appointed to represent the entire group of plaintiffs. An MDL can prove lengthy, costly and labor-intensive.

We Can Determine Whether an Individual Lawsuit or Mass Tort Is Beneficial

Every individual’s circumstances are unique. Therefore, especially if your client suffered more extensive damages than the average plaintiff in the mass tort, your client could file a separate case from an ongoing mass tort. An individual lawsuit can have advantages as your client could seek specific damages.

However, individual action can also have drawbacks. While it is generally up to you to decide which method of legal action to pursue, an experienced mass tort lawyer from our firm can advise you comprehensively after assessing your client’s individual case and circumstances.

Some Leading Mass Torts:

Hair Relaxer Products

Some popular hair products could have dangerous health consequences. An NIH-funded study published in October 2022 found an association between women who regularly used chemical hair relaxer products and uterine cancer. The study also warned that negative health impacts associated with using relaxers had the potential to impact Black and/or African American women more than women who identify with other races and ethnicities. An earlier report from the same study found that frequent users of hair relaxers were more than 2x as likely to develop ovarian cancer.

Phillips CPAP And Sleep Apnea Machines

Philips recalled millions of CPAP and other sleep apnea machines because many users were breathing toxic foam caused by a serious issue with their machines. Breathing in this toxic foam can cause cancer and other major health problems. The foam was going directly into the tube that users were using to breathe correctly while they slept. Aside from causing cancer, which is obviously severe and completely unacceptable, many users also reported headaches, upper airway irritations, coughing, chest pressure, sinus infections, asthma, damage to their liver and kidneys, nausea, vomiting, and increased breathing problems.

Camp Lajeune

Government officials had been aware of toxic water contamination at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for decades. Despite their knowledge, those in power ignored the issue and then denied victims their right to seek justice. Between August 1953 and December 1987, service members, their families and base employees at Camp Lejeune consumed and bathed in water that contained high levels of toxic chemicals.

Many of these individuals have gone on to experience severe health issues as a consequence of the exposure, including birth effects, female infertility, leukemia, miscarriages, multiple myeloma, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Parkinson’s Disease, soft tissue sarcoma and various including bladder cancer, kidney cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Who Qualifies for a Claim
Morgan & Morgan is accepting claims from any individuals who resided or worked at Camp Lejeune base for 30 days or longer between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987, including:

Service members
Family members of service members, including in-utero
Base camp employees

Social Media Harm

In recent years, multiple lawsuits have covered the underlying issues surrounding social media addiction and how mega-companies like Meta Platforms, the owners of Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, and Tiktok have used their algorithms to target and prey on the insecurities of vulnerable kids and young adults, including self-harm and suicide as well as effects on body image and eating disorders.
Individuals meeting the below requirements may qualify for social media harm claim:

Used one or more platform: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and/or TikTok daily or weekly (preferably 3+ hrs per day)
Has suffered from (regardless of treatment, but preferably documented): anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, purging, body dysmorphia, other eating disorders, self harm, attempted suicide, suicide or death or injury suffered before the age of 26.

How We Could Help

Morgan & Morgan’s experienced mass tort attorneys can help individuals seeking to hold a drug maker, medical device manufacturer, or other corporation accountable. We can:

Analyze your client’s medical reports to prove a link to the defective drug or product
Hire respected medical expert witnesses to testify on your client’s behalf
Complete the necessary paperwork and formalities to file your client’s lawsuit
Present your client’s case strongly at court
Fight for your client’s rights on a no-win-no-fee basis

What is more, when we take your client’s case, your client is represented by America’s largest personal injury firm with 24/7 access to our legal teams. Our determined attorneys have helped to secure more than $10 billion in damages for the injured over the last three decades. We never settle for less and always fight for the best possible outcome for your client, whether in an individual lawsuit or mass

Handling mass tort cases can take a lot of time, resources and energy. It's no wonder many plaintiff law firms choose to avoid them entirely, leading to thousands of mass tort cases left on the table every year. Which is why we make it easy for you to send us the mass tort cases that you can't handle. And of course, you get to share in the fees when a case is successfully resolved.

Mass tort cases are among the most challenging to litigate. Most plaintiff law firms won’t have the resources, time, or energy to take them on, leading to thousands of Mass Tort cases left on the table every year. Each case that isn’t handled is a victim left without rightful justice, but Morgan & Morgan is uniquely capable of reaching success even in the most complicated mass tort situations.

Size, experience, and manpower matter in mass torts. Morgan & Morgan has hundreds of attorneys and thousands of legal team members available who can handle a variety of practice areas. Our teams include experienced mass tort and MDL attorneys, investigators, expert witnesses, and support staff.

We make it easy for you to send us the Mass Tort cases that are outside of your scope. The victims gain an ally in their corner, the at-fault party is held accountable, and, of course, you get a fair share of the fees when a case is resolved successfully.

Attorney review by:

Michael Goetz

Michael Goetz joined Morgan & Morgan in 2002, where his practice focused on the prosecution of personal injury and wrongful death claims on behalf of individuals and consumer classes. He has represented hundreds of clients in cases involving automobile and premises liability, nursing home abuse and neglect, and environmental torts. Since 2008, Mr. Goetz has served as head of the Mass Tort Section of the Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group.