Greenville Mass Tort Lawyer
When a drug, medical device, or consumer product injures many people, each person still has an individual claim based on their own injuries. The companies involved may have large legal teams and extensive records about the product, its risks, and how it was developed or marketed. A Greenville mass tort lawyer can determine whether your injury may be connected to existing litigation and explain what that means for your claim.
At Mooneyham Berry, we bring more than 40 years of combined experience to complex litigation. Our attorneys have handled mass tort and defective product claims involving extensive records, corporate defendants, and technical evidence. We investigate how the product or drug affected you while also examining the broader evidence surrounding similar injuries.
If you believe a drug, medical device, or other product harmed you, contact Mooneyham Berry and tell us what happened.
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How Mass Tort Litigation Works in Federal Court
A mass tort involves individual injury claims against one or more companies arising from the same product, drug, device, or conduct. Many mass tort cases proceed in federal court, where related lawsuits may be centralized in multidistrict litigation, or an MDL.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1407, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation may transfer cases involving common questions of fact to one federal district for coordinated pretrial proceedings. Cases that do not resolve during those proceedings may later return to their original courts for trial.
An MDL does not turn the lawsuits into one case. Each plaintiff keeps an individual claim based on their own exposure, injury, treatment, and losses. At the same time, plaintiffs can benefit from coordinated discovery into evidence shared across the litigation.
The process may include:
- Investigation and filing: Each plaintiff's individual claim is evaluated and filed.
- Coordinated discovery: The parties gather evidence about issues such as product design, testing, warnings, and corporate conduct.
- Bellwether trials: Selected cases may go to trial to provide information about how juries respond to recurring issues.
- Settlement negotiations: The parties may negotiate individual settlements or establish a broader settlement program.
- Remand: Cases that remain unresolved may return to their original federal courts for further proceedings or trial.
Bellwether results do not determine the outcome of every other claim. They can, however, provide information that affects later litigation and settlement discussions. MDLs may also require plaintiffs to complete standardized forms documenting product use or exposure, injuries, medical treatment, and other individual facts.
Mass Tort Claims Compared With Class Actions
Mass torts and class actions both involve claims shared by many people, but they handle individual cases differently:
- Individual claims: In a mass tort, each person generally maintains a separate claim. In a class action, one or more representative plaintiffs pursue claims on behalf of the class.
- Individual damages: Mass tort compensation is based on each person's injuries, treatment, and losses. Class actions generally address claims on a group-wide basis.
- Individual decisions: A mass tort plaintiff generally decides whether to accept a settlement offer. Class action settlements require court approval and may bind class members who do not opt out when permitted.
The type and severity of your injury, the product involved, and the structure of any existing litigation can affect how a claim proceeds. Mooneyham Berry determines whether coordinated litigation already exists and evaluates how joining it may affect your individual claim.
Mass Tort Litigation in South Carolina
A person injured in South Carolina may have a claim in a national MDL, in state court, or in another appropriate forum. Where the claim proceeds depends on the product involved, the defendants, and the structure of any existing litigation.
South Carolina also has direct experience with major multidistrict litigation. The District of South Carolina currently hosts MDL 2873, involving claims related to aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF. Thousands of individual actions have been coordinated there for pretrial proceedings.
Mooneyham Berry practices in South Carolina state and federal courts and has experience with litigation extending beyond the state. We evaluate where existing mass tort litigation is taking place and how that affects the options available to an injured South Carolina claimant.
Defective Product and Dangerous Drug Claims
Mass tort litigation often develops when the same drug, medical device, or consumer product allegedly causes similar injuries to many people. South Carolina product claims may proceed under legal theories including strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. Our product liability attorneys evaluate which theories the evidence may support.
Product claims commonly involve:
- Design defects: The product's design creates an unreasonable danger.
- Manufacturing defects: A production or quality-control problem makes a product unsafe.
- Failure to warn: Instructions or warnings fail to adequately address a product's risks.
Dangerous drug claims may involve questions about a medication's design, testing, warnings, and known risks. Regulatory approval or a product recall can be relevant evidence, but neither automatically determines whether a claim succeeds. The individual claimant still needs evidence connecting the drug or product to the injury.
Mass torts can also involve medical devices, vehicle components, and other consumer products. Mooneyham Berry examines both the broader evidence surrounding the product and the medical evidence showing how it affected the individual client.
Who Can Bring a Mass Tort Claim
A mass tort claim generally requires evidence of three things:
- Use or exposure: You used, received, or were exposed to the drug, device, product, or substance involved.
- An injury or illness: Medical records document the condition connected to the claim.
- Causation: Evidence supports a connection between the product or exposure and the injury.
The records needed depend on the type of claim. Prescription and pharmacy records may document use of a drug. Medical records may identify an implanted device. Receipts, photographs, serial numbers, or the product itself may help establish use of other products.
Existing MDLs and settlement programs may also impose registration, documentation, or filing requirements separate from ordinary legal deadlines. When an injury results in death, surviving family members may have a
wrongful death claim.
Evidence to Keep for a Mass Tort Claim
Individual records matter even when thousands of people are pursuing claims involving the same product. Depending on the case, important evidence may include:
- The product, packaging, instructions, receipts, or serial numbers.
- Prescription, pharmacy, or medical device records.
- Medical records, imaging, and bills related to the injury.
- Photographs of the product and any visible injuries.
- Recall notices, safety communications, and messages from the manufacturer.
- Records showing when and how the product was used or exposure occurred.
If a physical product caused the injury, avoid throwing it away, repairing it, or returning it before speaking with an attorney. The product itself may need to be examined by an engineer or other qualified expert.
Records can also become harder to obtain over time, and coordinated litigation may have its own filing requirements. Preserving the available evidence early can help Mooneyham Berry evaluate both your individual injury and its connection to the broader litigation.
How Mooneyham Berry Evaluates a Mass Tort Claim
Mass tort litigation may involve thousands of similar claims, but our evaluation starts with what happened to you. We look at the product or drug involved, your exposure or use, your medical history, and the evidence connecting the product to your injury.
Our investigation may include:
- Preserving the product and related records when applicable.
- Researching recalls, safety notices, and reports of similar injuries.
- Consulting qualified medical, engineering, or other experts.
- Identifying the companies involved in designing, manufacturing, marketing, or supplying the product.
- Determining whether coordinated litigation already exists and how it may affect your claim.
Mooneyham Berry also looks beyond publicly available recall information. Through litigation and discovery, additional evidence may emerge about testing, known risks, warnings, and corporate decisions surrounding the product.
Your individual losses remain important even when the broader litigation involves thousands of people. We document how the injury affects your health, work, and daily life and prepare the claim with the possibility of trial in mind.
Deadlines and Compensation in Mass Tort Claims
South Carolina generally allows three years to bring many personal injury claims. For claims governed by the state's general personal injury limitations period, the clock generally runs from when the person knew or reasonably should have known they had a cause of action. Latent injuries can make that date more difficult to determine.
Mass tort litigation may also involve court-ordered registration, filing, or settlement deadlines. Those deadlines can differ from the statute of limitations, making it important to determine whether coordinated litigation already exists.
Depending on the claim, compensation may include:
- Medical expenses: Past treatment and future medical care.
- Lost income: Wages lost during recovery and reduced future earning capacity.
- Pain and suffering: The physical and emotional effects of the injury.
- Permanent impairment or disfigurement: Lasting changes to health, function, or appearance.
Compensation remains tied to the individual claimant's injuries and losses. Punitive damages may also be available when the evidence meets South Carolina's requirements for willful, wanton, or reckless conduct.
Mooneyham Berry evaluates the damages supported by the individual claim while also considering how the broader litigation may affect its resolution.
Experience With Mass Tort and Complex Product Litigation
Mass tort claims can involve extensive corporate records, expert testimony, and litigation spanning multiple courts. Mooneyham Berry brings direct experience with this type of complex litigation.
The firm's experience includes work involving the Acromed pedicle screw litigation, MDL 926, and the Dow Corning bankruptcy. Joe Mooneyham has also handled litigation across multiple states, taken or defended depositions in more than 20 states, and tried more than 100 cases to verdict.
Our attorneys also have experience handling mass tort and defective product cases involving extensive records and expert evidence. That background helps us investigate both the broader issues surrounding a product and the individual evidence supporting each client's claim.
With more than 40 years of combined experience, Mooneyham Berry prepares complex claims for litigation while keeping clients informed about their own cases. We advocate for their individual interests even when their claims are part of much larger litigation.
Find Out Whether Your Injury May Be Part of a Mass Tort
You should not have to track MDL proceedings, court filings, and claim deadlines while dealing with an injury. Mooneyham Berry can determine whether litigation involving the same drug, device, or product already exists and explain how it may affect your claim.
We start with what happened to you. Our attorneys review your product use or exposure, medical records, and available evidence. We then examine recalls, safety information, and existing litigation to determine what options may be available.
Throughout the process, we protect your interests and keep you informed about developments affecting your individual claim. Our office is located at 1225 S Church Street in Greenville, and we represent clients throughout South Carolina.
If you believe a drug, medical device, or other product harmed you, contact Mooneyham Berry to have our Greenville mass tort lawyers review what happened.