On July 25, 2012, Judge David A. Katz, who is overseeing the federal DePuy ASR cases in the Northern District of Ohio, established the protocol to select the initial bellwether cases for trial. Courts often use the bellwether approach when a large number of plaintiffs are pursuing the same general theory of liability. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the various courts to handle the massive caseload. In essence, the bellwether cases act as a representative for the remaining cases in hopes of reaching a global settlement.

By August 8, 2012, counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendants must each select four (4) ASR revision cases as bellwether trial candidates. The parties will then have until November 1, 2012, to conduct case-specific discovery, such as the depositions of the plaintiff, surgeon and examining physician. As we previously reported, the first federal DePuy ASR trial is scheduled to begin in May 2013.

If you have had a hip replacement, which used the DePuy ASR or Pinnacle devices, you can contact Stark & Stark and speak to one of the Mass Tort attorneys, free of charge, who can help assess any claims that you might have against the DePuy manufacturers.