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two (2) or more civil actions pending in one or more circuit courts: (a) involving common questions of law or fact in mass accidents or single catastrophic events in which a number of people are injured; or (b) involving common questions of law or fact in "personal injury mass torts" allegedly incurred upon numerous claimants in connections with widely available or mass-marketed products and their manufacture, design, use, implantation, ingestion, or exposure; or (c) involving common questions o flaw or fact in "property damage mass torts" allegedly incurred upon numerous claimants in connection with claims for replacement or repair of allegedly defective products, including those in which claimants seek compensation for the failure of the product to perform as intended with resulting damage to the product itself or other property, with or without personal injury overtones; or (d) involving common questions of law or fact in "economic loss" cases incurred by numerous claimants asserting defect claims similar to those in property damage circumstances which are in the nature of consumer fraud or warranty actions on a grand scale including allegations of the existence of a defect without actual product failure or injury.
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West Virginia Rule of Civil Procedure 16. Pretrial conferences; scheduling; management. Among the objectives is "establishing early and continuing control so that the case will not be protracted because of lack of management." 16(a)(2). Subjects for consideration include "the need for adopting special procedures for managing potentially difficult or protracted actions that may involve complex issues, multiple parties, difficult legal questions, or unusual proof problems." R.16(c)12).
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None known.
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State ex rel. Atkins v. Burnside, 212 W. Va. 74. Trial court held that cases of nine original plaintiffs could be consolidated with fourteen additional plaintiffs for purposes of discovery, and that discovery would be conducted via a reverse bifurcation process. The state supreme court held that the consolidation constituted an abuse of discretion for which a writ of prohibition was the only available and effective remedy. The court found that consolidation imposed a significant burden on parties and witnesses, and that reverse bifurcation was inappropriate in this complex case.
State ex rel. Allman v. MacQueen, 209 W. Va. 726. Trial court management of asbestos case.
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The West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel website includes links to a variety of administrative orders and forms, as well as information about electronic filing and service.
Administrative Order, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, re: Appointments to the Mass Litigation Panel, Request for Proposed Rules (July 10, 2007).
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None known.
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The Mass Litigation Panel (Panel), created in 1998, consists of six active or senior status circuit judges, appointed by the chief justice with approval of the full court. Each serves a term of three years. The panel presides over actions referred to it by the chief justice and provides assistance and guidance to any other circuit court judge within the state upon assignment by the chief justice; develops and implements case management and trial methods for mass litigation cases; and recommends rules for adoption by the appellate court for conduct of business of the Panel.
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None known.
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See special dockets.
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West Virginia Court Technology Summit, Final Report (December 1999)
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