And Now A Word From The Panel: A Year Of Vanishing MDLs

Welcome as we enter our fifth year of "And Now A Word From The Panel," a bimonthly column which "rides the circuit" with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation as it meets at venues around the country.

As has often been the case in years past, the panel returns to its traditional January destination of the state of Florida. Perhaps to avoid Pro Bowl weekend in Orlando, the panel heads a bit further south to Miami, a typical January hotspot for the panel.

As we begin a new year, this column once again takes a retrospective look at the past year before the panel. The past year was momentous for the panel, in that it created a mere 26 new MDL proceedings, a record low for this century, and a low water mark for new MDL proceedings not seen in almost a quarter of a century.