Stay Lifted Over Lawsuits On 3M Earplugs

Stay Lifted Over Lawsuits On 3M Earplugs

Introduction

The U.S District Judge recently lifted a stay for the discovery of 3M Combat Arms earplugs lawsuits and has allowed parties to start preparing claims for trial dates.

In April 2019, the pending cases were transferred to Judge Casey Rodgers by US judicial panel on multidistrict litigation (JMPL), a stay was placed on the discovery while the pretrial proceedings were organized in the MDL. It included appointing a group of earplugs attorneys to serve in various leadership roles and establishing protocols for the exchange of information about the cases.

Following a case management conference on June 20, Judge Rodgers issued a pretrial order, adopting a discovery plan for the first phase of litigation and allowed parties to commence generic discovery into the common issues that applied to all claims. The defendants were ordered to complete early document exchange by June 27, 2019, with the deadline to complete document production set for September 30, 2019. The parties are directed to file a status report by October 31, 2019, including the proposals for any dispositive motion and any case-specific discovery.

U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers is presiding over more than 640 injury lawsuits filed under MDL No. 2885 (In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation) in the Northern District of Florida against Minnesota-based 3M.