Mass actions are pursuant to the "mass action" provision of the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”). Under this provision, defendants in civil suits may remove “mass actions” that meet CAFA’s jurisdictional requirements from state to federal court. CAFA defines a “mass action” as “any civil action ... in which monetary relief claims of 100 or more persons are proposed to be tried jointly on the ground that the plaintiffs' claims involve common questions of law or fact.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(11)(B)(i).

Multidistrict litigation is comprised of multiple cases involving one or more common questions of fact which have been transferred from different federal districts by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to a single federal district for coordinated or consolidated proceedings under 28 U.S.C. Section 1407.

Information pertaining to mass action and multidistrict litigation cases currently pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois is accessible by selecting one of the cases listed on the menu to the left of this verbiage.

More information on multidistrict litigation can be obtained from the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation at http://www.jpml.uscourts.gov.