In 1991, all land-based asbestos personal injury and maritime (MARDOC) asbestos personal injury cases pending in federal court were transferred to Multi-District Litigation 875 program in the Eastern District of Eastern District of Pennsylvania for pretrial proceedings, with a heavy emphasis on settlement. To this end, the late Judge Charles W. Weiner issued a case management order on Sept. 11, 1991, designating lead counsel and liaison counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants. Multiple pretrial and administrative orders were entered regarding procedural issues, including the scheduling of settlement conferences and the filing of motions for summary judgment and suggestions of remand. Pretrial Orders 5 through 7 specifically addressed pending FELA and MARDOC asbestos personal injury cases.
On Jan. 15, 2002, in response to a motion for case management order, Weiner issued Administrative Order No. 8, which effectively dismissed all non-malignant asbestos cases initiated on the basis of inherently unreliable mass screenings, in order to prevent the depletion of available settlement funds. The statute of limitations was tolled and the cases remained active for discovery and settlement purposes. A similar procedure had previously been put into place for the MARDOC cases.
