Last week we attended a Mass Torts Forum/Roundtable for Judges and Lawyers in Philadelphia. It was run by Mass Torts Made Perfect (MTMP), an organization created by plaintiff lawyers. We spotted only five defense lawyers at the Forum, surrounded by many, many plaintiff lawyers. And it was perfectly delightful. The plaintiff lawyers were invariably civil and gracious. The folks at MTMP want to host more events where both plaintiff and defense lawyers get together. If the events are all like this one, there is a reason to be optimistic. The goal makes sense, because judges are insistent that plaintiff and defense lawyers work as many things out as possible. It’s easier to do that if the adversaries actually know and trust each other.

And make no mistake about it: judges do want the opposing lawyers to clear away as many squabbles as possible. The Forum was built around an impressive collection of judges: Garrett Brown, recently retired Chief Judge from the District of New Jersey (he presided over the Fosamax Femur MDL), Donovan Frank, D. Minnesota (Guidant MDL), David Herndon, Chief Judge, S.D. Illinois (Yaz MDL), Daniel Stack, Special Master in the Yaz MDL), and Sandra Moss, Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia (as she said, every mass tort from A-Y, and probably soon Z). It was what we in the business call a hot panel. All the judges were thoughtful and engaging. Here are some of the more interesting points that were ventilated during the Forum:

• Addressing case management issues early is in everybody’s interest. Coordination, including between federal and state courts, can aid efficiency and reduce costs. It can also make it harder for parties to play jurisdictions against each other. An MDL can be a “life-changing” experience for a court. It starts to feel like a huge construction project, where landmarks along the way signal progress. Judges also look for “economies of scale.”

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