Wikipedia

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation

The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (J.P.M.L. or the Panel) is a special body within the United States federal court system which manages multidistrict litigation. It was established by Congress in 1968 by Pub. L. 90–296, and has the authority to determine whether civil actions pending in two or more federal judicial districts should be transferred to a single federal district court for pretrial proceedings.[1][2] If such cases are determined to involve one or more common questions of fact and are transferred, the panel will then select the district court and assign a judge or judges to preside over the litigation. The purpose of the transfer or "centralization" process is to conserve the resources of the parties and their counsel, as well as the judiciary, thus avoiding duplication of discovery and preventing inconsistent pretrial rulings.[3]

United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
(J.P.M.L.)
LocationThurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building
(Washington, D.C.)
Established1968
AuthorityArticle III court
Created by28 U.S.C. § 1407 & § 2112
Composition methodChief Justice appointment
Judges7
ChairKaren K. Caldwell
www.jpml.uscourts.gov Edit this at Wikidata

The Chief Justice of the United States, currently John Roberts, appoints the members of the panel, which is composed of no more than seven United States federal judges serving on either district courts or courts of appeals. All panel members must be from different judicial circuits. In addition to their participation on the panel, the members continue to serve as judges for the courts to which they were originally appointed.[3] The panel convenes hearings in various locations around the country to facilitate the participation of parties and their counsel. The Office of the Clerk of the Panel is located at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building in Washington, D.C.

As of September 30, 2018, the Panel has centralized 1,722 dockets involving more than 673,000 individual cases. There have been 1,131 additional docket requests that were not centralized. These dockets encompass litigation categories as diverse as securities fraud, drugs and other products liability cases, intellectual property infringement, antitrust law violations, airplane crashes, employment practices and consumer data security breaches.[4]

The panel also has the additional responsibility of centralizing multicircuit petitions for review: petitions for review of a government agency order or decision which are currently pending in two or more federal courts of appeals.[5] The panel has delegated this task to its clerk, who selects a court of appeals by lottery (i.e., spinning a drum and selecting a number at random).[6][7] Before Congress created the random lottery procedure by statute in 1988, parties litigating in support of and against controversial government agency decisions would race to file in their preferred court of appeals in accordance with the traditional rule that the appropriate venue was usually where a petition for review was first filed.[6]

Members of the panel

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Since the panel was established in 1968, it has been composed of the following 57 judges:[8]

Name Lifespan Date appointed End date Chair term Court Circuit Appointed by
Alfred P. Murrah1904–1975May 29, 1968October 30, 19751968–1975W.D. Okla. (1937–1940)
10th Cir. (1940–1975)		10th Cir.Earl Warren
John Minor Wisdom1905–1999May 29, 1968November 15, 19781975–19785th Cir. (1957–1999)5th Cir.
Edward Weinfeld1901–1988May 29, 1968November 15, 1978—S.D.N.Y. (1950–1988)2nd Cir.
Edwin Albert Robson1905–1986May 29, 1968July 1, 1979—N.D. Ill. (1958–1986)7th Cir.
William H. Becker1909–1992May 29, 1968February 1, 1977—W.D. Mo. (1961–1992)8th Cir.
Joseph Simon Lord III1912–1991May 29, 1968July 17, 1978—E.D. Pa. (1961–1991)3rd Cir.
Stanley Alexander Weigel1905–1999May 29, 1968July 1, 1979—N.D. Cal. (1962–1997)9th Cir.
Andrew A. Caffrey1920–1993November 6, 1975June 1, 19901980–1990D. Mass. (1960–1993)1st Cir.Warren E. Burger
Roy Winfield Harper1905–1994February 1, 1977September 30, 1983—E.D. Mo. (1947–1994)8th Cir.
Charles R. Weiner1922–2005October 25, 1978September 30, 1983—E.D. Pa. (1967–2005)3rd Cir.
Murray Gurfein1907–1979November 15, 1978December 16, 19791978–1979S.D.N.Y. (1971–1974)
2nd Cir. (1974–1979)		2nd Cir.
Edward Skottowe Northrop1911–2003June 6, 1979September 30, 1983—D. Md. (1961–2003)4th Cir.
Robert Howard Schnacke1913–1994July 1, 1979November 19, 1990—N.D. Cal. (1970–1994)9th Cir.
Frederick Alvin Daugherty1914–2006March 1, 1980November 19, 1990—E.D. Okla. (1961–2006)10th Cir.
Sam C. Pointer Jr.1934–2008March 1, 1980December 7, 1987—N.D. Ala. (1970–2000)5th Cir. (to 1981)
11th Cir. (from 1981)
Samuel Hugh Dillin1914–2006October 1, 1983October 26, 1992—S.D. Ind. (1961–2006)7th Cir.
Milton Pollack1906–2004October 1, 1983November 30, 1994—S.D.N.Y. (1967–2004)2nd Cir.
Louis H. Pollak1922–2012October 1, 1983October 26, 1992—E.D. Pa. (1978–2012)3rd Cir.
Halbert Owen Woodward1918–2000March 8, 1989June 23, 1992—N.D. Tex. (1968–2000)5th Cir.William Rehnquist
John Francis Nangle1922–2008June 1, 1990December 1, 20001990–2000E.D. Mo. (1973–2008)8th Cir.
Robert R. Merhige Jr.1919–2005November 19, 1990June 8, 1998—E.D. Va. (1967–1998)4th Cir.
William Benner Enright1925–2020November 19, 1990June 1, 2000—S.D. Cal. (1972–2020)9th Cir.
Barefoot Sanders1925–2008October 26, 1992June 1, 2000—N.D. Tex. (1979–2008)5th Cir.
Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr.1922–2014October 26, 1992June 1, 2000—D. Wyo. (1975–2014)10th Cir.
John F. Grady1929–2019October 26, 1992June 1, 2000—N.D. Ill. (1975–2019)7th Cir.
Louis Bechtle1927–2024December 6, 1994June 29, 2001—E.D. Pa. (1972–2001)3rd Cir.
John F. Keenan1929–2024June 8, 1998June 1, 2006—S.D.N.Y. (1983–2024)2nd Cir.
William Terrell Hodges1934–2022June 1, 2000June 13, 20072000–2007M.D. Fla. (1971–2022)11th Cir.
Morey Leonard Sear1929–2004June 1, 2000December 31, 2002—E.D. La. (1976–2004)5th Cir.
Bruce M. Selya1934–2025June 1, 2000June 1, 2004—D.R.I. (1982–1986)
1st Cir. (1986–2025)		1st Cir.
Julia Smith Gibbons1950–presentJune 1, 2000December 30, 2003—W.D. Tenn. (1983–2002)
6th Cir. (2002–present)		6th Cir.
D. Lowell Jensen1928–presentDecember 1, 2000June 1, 2008—N.D. Cal. (1986–2014)9th Cir.
J. Frederick Motz1942–2023July 13, 2001June 1, 2009—D. Md. (1985–2023)4th Cir.
Robert Lowell Miller Jr.1950–presentJanuary 1, 2003October 15, 2010—N.D. Ind. (1985–present)7th Cir.
Kathryn H. Vratil1949–presentFebruary 2, 2004October 15, 2013—D. Kan. (1992–present)10th Cir.
David R. Hansen1938–presentJuly 9, 2004May 1, 2011—N.D. Iowa (1986–1991)
8th Cir. (1991–present)		8th Cir.
Anthony Joseph Scirica1940–presentJune 1, 2006June 15, 2008—E.D. Pa. (1984–1987)
3rd Cir. (1987–present)		3rd Cir.John Roberts
John G. Heyburn II1948–2015June 14, 2007October 15, 20142007–2014W.D. Ky. (1992–2015)6th Cir.
William Royal Furgeson Jr.1941–presentSeptember 22, 2008May 31, 2013—N.D. Tex. (1994–2013)5th Cir.
Frank C. Damrell Jr.1938–presentDecember 9, 2008October 15, 2011—E.D. Cal. (1997–2011)9th Cir.
David G. Trager1937–2011October 7, 2009April 1, 2010—E.D.N.Y. (1993–2011)2nd Cir.
Barbara S. Jones1947–presentMay 21, 2010October 15, 2012—S.D.N.Y. (1995–2013)2nd Cir.
Paul Barbadoro1955–presentNovember 8, 2010February 1, 2014—D.N.H. (1992–present)1st Cir.
Marjorie Rendell1947–presentMay 24, 2011October 15, 2018—E.D. Pa. (1994–1997)
3rd Cir. (1997–present)		3rd Cir.
Charles Breyer1941–presentOctober 16, 2011October 15, 2018—N.D. Cal. (1997–present)9th Cir.
Lewis A. Kaplan1944–presentOctober 24, 2012October 15, 2019—S.D.N.Y. (1994–present)2nd Cir.
Sarah S. Vance1950–presentJune 1, 2013October 15, 20192014–2019E.D. La. (1994–present)5th Cir.
Ellen Segal Huvelle1948–presentOctober 16, 2013October 15, 2020—D.D.C. (1999–present)D.C. Cir.
R. David Proctor1960–presentApril 11, 2014October 15, 2020—N.D. Ala. (2003–present)11th Cir.
Catherine D. Perry1952–presentOctober 8, 2014October 15, 2021—E.D. Mo. (1994–present)8th Cir.
Karen K. Caldwell1956–presentOctober 16, 2018present2019–presentE.D. Ky. (2001–present)6th Cir.
Nathaniel M. Gorton1938–presentOctober 16, 2018present—D. Mass. (1992–present)1st Cir.
Matthew Kennelly1956–presentOctober 16, 2019present—N.D. Ill. (1999–present)7th Cir.
David C. Norton1946–presentOctober 16, 2019present—D.S.C. (1990–present)4th Cir.
Roger Benitez1950–presentOctober 16, 2020April 2, 2026—S.D. Cal. (2004–2026)9th Cir.
Dale A. Kimball1939–presentOctober 16, 2020present—D. Utah (1997–present)10th Cir.
Madeline Cox Arleo1963–presentOctober 16, 2021present—D.N.J. (2014–present)3rd Cir.

References

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  1. ↑ "Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation". Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ 28 U.S.C. § 1407.
  3. 1 2 "Overview of Panel | Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation | United States". Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Statistical Information | Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation | United States". Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  5. ↑ 28 U.S.C. § 2112.
  6. 1 2 Iafolla, Robert (November 5, 2021). "Lottery Will Pick Court to Hear Biden Shot-or-Test Challenges". Bloomberg Law. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  7. ↑ Rule 25.5 of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Archived September 11, 2021, at the Wayback Machine (as filed October 4, 2016).
  8. ↑ "Panel Judges". Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
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