Are there too many lawsuits in this country? Perhaps, but the more relevant question is whether our system too readily facilitates the filing of meritless claims, which not only clog the judicial system, but deny those who may actually have grounds to file a lawsuit their day in court.

What few realize is that many of the lawsuits are concentrated in a particular type of litigation. As of the end of the last fiscal year, roughly 50% of the 301,766 pending lawsuits in federal court (excluding Social Security and prisoner cases, except for death penalty cases) were occupied by Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) proceedings.