Court appoints plaintiffs' steering committee in multidistrict litigation against manufacturers of earplugs issued by the military

Last month I reported that the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) agreed to consolidate and centralize all 3M Combat Arms Earplug lawsuits pending throughout the federal court system.  Currently, there are more than 813 product liability lawsuits filed against 3M Company and it’s Aearo Technologies subsidiary, each involving similar allegations that military veterans suffered hearing damage following use of Combat Arms earplugs, which were standard issue by the military between 2003 and 2015.  However, according to some, it is expected that ultimately thousands of cases will be brought by individuals nationwide.

The centralized litigation has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida, which will help reduce duplicative discovery, and avoid conflicting pretrial rulings.

Now comes news that the Judge has appointed a group of 53 plaintiffs’ attorneys to serve in various leadership roles, taking actions that benefit all veterans who are pursuing claims for hearing loss linked to product defects.  AboutLawsuits has the story and links to the relevant documents.