Chapter § 4.08 Appeal

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Publication year: 2020

§ 4.08 Appeal

[1] Review of Transfer Decisions by the MDL Panel

Section 1407(e) provides that “[n]o proceedings for review of any order of the panel may be permitted except by extraordinary writ” of mandamus.¹¹⁷ A party must file a writ to review a Panel decision “issued prior to the order either directing or denying transfer” in the circuit court “having jurisdiction over the district in which a hearing is to be or has been held,” while a writ to review “an order to transfer or orders subsequent to transfer” must be filed in the circuit court having jurisdiction over the transferee district.¹¹⁸ A party cannot seek review of “an order of the panel denying a motion to transfer.”¹¹⁹

[2] No Review of Transferee Court Decisions by the MDL Panel

The transferee court decisions, such as an order granting or denying class-action certification, are generally subject to review in the circuit court with jurisdiction over the transferee court—i.e., the same as non-multidistrict litigation.¹²⁰ The MDL Panel lacks any appellate review of transferee court decisions and is usually careful to avoid exercising even the appearance of oversight.¹²¹ The one situation where the Panel may border on review is when it evaluates a transferee court’s recommendation to remand an action to the transferor court before the conclusion of pretrial proceedings. Under section 1407(a), the...