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.

Under 28 U.S.C. §1407 (the MDL statute), the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation may centralize cases pending in different federal judicial districts involving "one of more common questions of fact" for pretrial purposes before a district court judge to "serve the convenience of parties and witnesses and … promote the just and efficient conduct of such actions." When additional cases are filed—and they inevitably are—the MDL judge is tasked with managing those cases as well. The largest MDLs are mass tort proceedings, product liability and/or other personal injury cases.