We here at the Law Offices of William C. Bibb have almost 40 years of experience networking with large plaintiff firms that handle complex mass tort cases in California. Multidistrict litigation (MDL) involves multiple – sometimes thousands – plaintiffs and a huge amount of research. I understand what it takes to coordinate efforts with plaintiff attorneys all across the country to provide clients with the best representation possible. I am also all too familiar with what can happen when the inexperience and/or ineffectiveness of some attorneys compromises the integrity of the cases they represent.

A legal dispute that is playing out in another state serves as a harrowing reminder of what can go wrong when MDL cases are not handled with due care by plaintiff attorneys. According to Legal NewsLine, the issue revolves around a mass tort lawsuit over defective vaginal mesh products. The exact defective medical product in question was reportedly discontinued by its manufacturer in 2006, but many of the plaintiffs identified in the suit had the defective medical devices in their bodies after that time.

Now, the federal judge presiding over the defective medical device MDL case is issuing a serious warning to the plaintiff attorneys involved. Not only did the District Court judge accuse attorneys of failing to abide by statute of limitation guidelines but he also admonished them for wasting court resources and time. The judge went on to explain that some plaintiff attorneys were not able to present evidence or expert opinions on specific causation, and that the amount of judicial resources wasted on cases that should have been dismissed by the attorneys themselves was unacceptable.

According to the judge, some attorneys have taken advantage of the MDL process, combining cases that do not have legal merit of their own and pursuing MDL cases without knowing how to prove causation. MDL attorneys have now been warned by the judge that they will face sanctions if they continue to bring baseless lawsuits forward into the summary judgment stage of litigation.

The futures of injury victims hang in the balance when inexperienced and/or ineffective attorneys fail to provide responsible and diligent legal representation. We here at the Law Offices of William C. Bibb are committed to advocating on behalf of our clients, and providing them with the best representation possible.