Among the challenges facing product manufacturers in the 21st century are recognizing and managing the legal threat posed by multiple, individual product liability lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions.
In the context of this article, “multiple product liability lawsuits” is not synonymous with mass torts, class actions, multidistrict litigation, or the other varieties of aggregated claims permitted by civil joinder and interpleader rules. Most defendant manufacturers have no difficulty identifying aggregated claims as potential bet-the-company threats deserving special attention and resources, and the management of aggregated claims has become a high art in nearly every quarter of the legal community.