multidistrict litigation
multidistrict litigation. Civil procedure. Federal-court litigation in which civil actions pending in different districts and involving common fact questions are transferred to a single district for coordinated pretrial proceedings, after which the actions are returned to their original districts for trial. • Multidistrict litigation is governed by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which is composed of seven circuit and district judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States. 28 USCA § 1407. — Abbr. MDL. [Cases: Federal Civil Procedure 9; Federal Courts 151–157.]