Mass Litigation Panel Litigation

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West Virginia is one of the few states which has created a special judicial forum to handle mass litigation cases. West Virginia Trial Court Rule 26.01 et seq. prescribes the criteria for referral to the Mass Litigation Panel.

(c) 'Mass litigation' shall be defined as 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 connection with widely available or mass-marketed products and their manufacture, design, use, implantation, ingestion, or exposure; or (c) involving common questions of law 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.

(e) Any party, judge, or the Administrative Director of the Courts may seek a referral to the Panel for transfer of actions by filing a Motion to Refer to Mass Litigation Panel in any circuit court in which a qualified case is pending. The motion shall identify the nature of the actions sought to be referred, the number of plaintiffs, the number of defendants, the number of actions pending, the basis for the request, a listing of the particular cases in all the circuits for which a referral is being requested, and, if known, whether additional related actions may be filed in the future.

Said motion may be filed within six (6) months after the filing date of the case in which the motion is being filed; provided, however, that a judge or the Administrative Director may file said motion at any time, if it is determined that litigation qualifies as mass litigation and that the litigation may be resolved more expeditiously by reference to the Panel.

The motion shall be served on all parties, all judges in actions which are the subject of the motion, and the Administrative Director. Any party shall have twenty (20) days after the motion is filed to file a reply memorandum stating its position and opposition, if any. Any affected judge may file a reply memorandum within ten (10) days thereafter. . . .

Attorneys
Michael J. Farrell (Practice Leader)
Tamela J. White
Paul T. Farrell
Joseph M. Farrell Jr.
Charlotte A. Hoffman Norris
Erik W. Legg
Bernard S. Vallejos