Given similar questions of fact and law raised in complaints brought in U.S. District Courts nationwide, a federal Depo-Provera MDL (Multi-District litigation) was created last month, centralizing the claims before U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.
Just days after she was appointed, Judge Rodgers announced the selection of five “pilot” Depo-Provera lawsuits, which will be prepared for early trials to help gauge how the court may rule on certain issues that are likely to be repeated throughout the litigation. She also indicated that the Court would appoint a group of Depo-Provera injury lawyers to serve in various leadership positions during the MDL proceedings, which involves an all-female plaintiff body.
Depo-Provera Leadership Lawyer Applications Due March 7
In a pretrial order (PDF) on February 28, Judge Rodgers announced that applications for individual Plaintiffs’ leadership positions will only be accepted for one week, with any interested lawyers required to submit information about their qualifications and experience by March 7, this coming Friday.
The Depo-Provera attorneys selected to serve in various leadership roles in the litigation will conduct pretrial discovery on behalf of plaintiffs in all actions consolidated in the MDL, examine witnesses and introduce evidence on behalf of plaintiffs at hearings, act as spokesperson for all plaintiffs at pretrial proceedings, and perform other actions that may apply to all cases in the MDL.
Judge Rodgers indicates she will select candidates based on a number of criteria, including experience with MDLs, mass tort cases, trials, settlements and issue-specific experience.
“Ultimately, the Court will appoint a leadership team with members whose talents, experience, and knowledge make them uniquely situated to effectively, fairly, and efficiently represent the interests of the Plaintiffs as a whole throughout the litigation,” she wrote.
MDL Judge Calls for Adequate Female Attorney Representation
In a case management order (PDF) issued on February 23, Judge Rodgers stressed the importance of the leadership team being balanced and diverse, to adequately and fairly represent the diversity of the individual Plaintiffs involved in the litigation.
Since all of the individuals injured by Depo-Provera are women, Judge Rodgers called for adequate female representation in the leadership group.
“This does not by any means suggest that every single position requires female counsel, but simply that females should be adequately represented within leadership,” she wrote. “Those with a demonstrated track record of successfully working with others, building consensus, and amicably managing disagreements are also preferred.”
However, a conservative judicial activist group called the “Article III Project” has filed a judicial misconduct complaint against Judge Rodgers for seeking strong female representation, despite every plaintiff in the litigation being a woman, or the family members of a woman that died.
The group’s complaint was filed on February 27, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s judicial conduct and disability review board, claiming Judge Rodgers is putting gender above merit. The complaint comes amid an ongoing push by the Trump administration to dismantle efforts across the country to ensure that diverse populations, including women, the disabled and people of color are fairly represented in the workplace.
Depo-Provera injury lawyers have widely condemned the group, calling its actions “disgusting” and noting that it, ironically, does not have standing to become involved in the litigation under the very Article III of the Constitution that the group is named for.
Depo-Provera Special Master
As more evidence of Judge Rodgers intention to pursue a swift and efficient resolution for the litigation, she issued another pretrial order (PDF) on March 1, appointing Retired U.S. District Judge David R. Herndon to serve as Special Master.
Judge Herndon will assist the court in managing the MDL, and the five pilot cases selected for early trials, the order indicates. He will interact with the parties and report back to the court. While the results of the early pilot Depo-Provera trials will not be binding on the other claims pending in the litigation, they will be closely watched to see how jurors respond, which could influence potential Depo-Provera brain tumor settlements the manufacturer offers to avoid the need to defend each individual case at trial in the future.