Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
375 E Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL
Date and Time: September 28, 2023
4:25–5:35 p.m.
Blank Rome partner Deborah Greenspan will serve as a panelist at the Rabiej Litigation Law Center’s MDL Bench-Bar Leadership Conference, being held September 28 and 29, 2023, at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, Illinois.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The Rabiej Litigation Law Center continues the unprecedented program bringing 30 to 40 federal judges and 75 to 125 plaintiff and defense attorneys together to exchange insights about different case-management practices in mass-tort multidistrict litigations (“MDLs”). The goal is to get views from as many different perspectives as possible on practices that have worked well and others that have not worked so well and develop or refine guidelines and best practices implementing the best of them. Such guidance is needed now more than ever to address emerging mass-tort MDL bankruptcies, the new MDL Rule 16.1 recommended by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, and the problem of premature mass-tort MDLs.
Deborah’s session, “Examining Expanding Roles of Special Masters and Court-Appointed Experts and Technical Advisors in Mass-Tort MDLs,” will take place on Thursday, September 28, from 4:25 to 5:35 p.m.
Panelists:
- Moderator: Professor Zachary Clopton, Northwestern University School of Law
- Palmer Lambert, Pendley, Baudin & Coffin LLP
- Paul LaFata, Dechert LLP
- Gary Russo, Jones Walker LLP
- Tim Raab, Alvarez & Marsal LLC
- Deborah Greenspan, Blank Rome LLP
- Centralization of Premature Mass-Tort MDLs; Early Screening of Claims for Merit
- Optimizing Initial Pretrial Mass-Tort MDL Conference (Proposed New Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1)
- Transfer of Mass-Tort MDL to Bankruptcy Court, e.g., Using Information Developed in Mass-Tort MDL as Basis for Estimating Values of Tort Claims and Future Claims in MDL Bankruptcy
- Procedures Handling Centralization of Class Actions in an MDL
- Getting a Handle on the Number of Law Firms and Attorneys Appointed to Discovery and Other Committees in a Mass-Tort MDL