Can Litigation Communications Be Paid From the Common Benefit Fund?

In MDL and mass tort matters, yes, where the court’s cost order allows it and the work is for the common benefit of the claimants rather than for one firm. The leadership committee decides what to submit. The court decides what is approved. What I can control is that the work is built for the whole class and that the accounting and documentation are ready for the court from the first day.

What the work has to look like

Communications for the entire class and every firm on the committee, not one retaining firm. Steering committee alignment, so the wider co-counsel group is on one message. Monthly press releases and media posts. Daily briefings to media during bellwether and trial windows. A standing cadence of claimant communications, so no claimant goes silent for months or turns to a forum for answers. Continuous monitoring of the defense’s geofencing, paid search and look-alike sites for the life of the litigation. A press operation ready for the moment a global settlement or a bellwether verdict lands.

What the file has to look like

Time, scope and deliverables recorded as they happen, not reconstructed later. A written scope and a fixed term agreed before the work begins. Accounting in the form the court’s order expects, with documentation supplied for the court, not invoiced to any single firm. The same file supports the privilege argument if it is ever needed, which is why I keep it the same way on every matter.

What I do not claim

I cannot tell you what your judge will approve. Counsel reads the cost order, and counsel decides what goes in the submission. What I can tell you is that this work has been paid this way, that I have the file ready when it is asked for, and that the alternative, a leadership committee with no one keeping the class informed and no one watching the defense, costs the common claimants more. MDL leadership engagements →