The National Trial Lawyers (NTL) kick off their 12th annual summit this week at the Loews Hotel in Miami from January 23 through 26. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) will also hold their first 2023 hearing this week in Miami, with summit officials describing the shared venue as a coincidence.

The 2023 Trial Lawyers summit touts 128 speakers covering a vast topic range. National Trial Lawyers Executive Director Michelle Swanner described the event theme to MTN as “The Practice, The Profession & The Business of being a Trial Lawyer,” which consists of two tracks covering the business of law and trial skills/the courtroom playbook. Swaner described her pride over the conference’s continued growth over the years and voiced excitement on returning to Loews.

“You can’t beat South Beach in January!” Swanner said. “It makes weather sense, easy to get to and it is our history. It is the perfect mix of business and pleasure!”

Swaner told MTN that well over 1,000 attendees have registered, describing distribution of  Civil Plaintiff and Criminal Defense lawyers as “approximately 85 to 15” respectively. When asked how many sponsors aided in mounting the event, Swanner replied “We do not share that information.” Swanner further confirmed that holding the summit in Miami the same week as the JPML hearing was “not by design.”
The Southern District of Florida’s Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse will host the first JPML hearing of 2023, with oral arguments starting at 9:30 a.m.. The seven-judge panel plans to hear nine cases with oral argument and nine cases without, with the mass tort community particularly interested in the JPML’s ruling on the pending MDL No. 3060 for hair relaxer marketing, sale practices and product liability. Other pending MDL’s with oral argument include multiple consumer data breaches (MDL No. 3055; MDL No. 3056), anti-trust litigation (MDL No. 3062, MDL No. 3064), and false marketing of Beyond Meat (MDL No. 3059), to name a few. Follow MTN on LinkedIn for live updates as the JPML releases decisions on the consolidation of pending MDLs receive consolidation.

Christina Grube