Multidistrict litigation is a legal procedure in United States federal courts in which lawsuits involving similar issues (common issues of fact) are consolidated in one court (called the MDL court) for the purpose of convenience and efficiency in pretrial matters, such as discovery. These lawsuits are generally returned to their original federal district courts for trial. Claims that are often the subject of multidistrict litigation are product liability claims against pharmaceutical companies, securities fraud cases, and airplane crashes.

In Kansas, as in other states, multidistrict litigation (MDL) is a federal legal procedure that consolidates multiple lawsuits involving common factual issues to improve efficiency and convenience during pretrial proceedings. This process is governed by federal law, specifically 28 U.S.C. § 1407, which allows for civil actions in different districts with one or more common questions of fact to be transferred to any district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. These cases are managed by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), which decides whether cases should be consolidated under MDL and where the MDL court should be located. While pretrial activities, including discovery and motions, are centralized, the individual lawsuits typically return to their original jurisdictions for trial unless they are settled or dismissed during the MDL process. MDLs are common in complex cases such as product liability suits, including those against pharmaceutical companies, securities fraud cases, and major accident litigation like airplane crashes.