The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation was created to consolidate and transfer to a single U.S. district court the pretrial proceedings for multiple civil cases involving common factual questions, typically at the request of a party. The statute creating the panel required that all such cases be remanded back to their original districts for trial. The panel is composed of seven judges from the U.S. district courts and U.S. courts of appeals, and all seven must be from different circuits. Subjects of litigation the panel has consolidated and transferred include airplane crashes, injuries from defective products, patent infringements, and investment fraud.

See also:

U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation: Members