TRANSFER OF FILES; NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

TRANSFER OF FILES; NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (a) Notice to Transferee Court Clerk. The Clerk of the Panel, via a notice of electronic filing, will notify the clerk of the transferee district whenever a Panel transfer order should be filed in the transferee district court. Upon receipt of an electronically certified copy of a Panel transfer order from the clerk of the transferee district, the clerk of the transferor district shall transmit the record of each transferred action - 11 - to the transferee district and then, unless Rule 9.1(b) applies, close the transferred action in the transferor district. (b) Retention of Claims. If the transfer order provides for the separation and simultaneous remand of any claim, cross-claim, counterclaim, or third-party claim, the clerk of the transferor district shall retain jurisdiction over any such claim and shall not close the action. (c) Notice to Clerk of Panel. The clerk of the transferee district shall promptly provide the Clerk of the Panel with the civil action numbers assigned to all transferred actions and the identity of liaison counsel, if or when designated. The clerk of the transferee district shall also promptly notify the Clerk of the Panel of any dispositive ruling that terminates a transferred action. RULE 10.1: TERMINATION AND REMAND (a) Termination. Where the transferee district court terminates an action by valid order, including but not limited to summary judgment, judgment of dismissal and judgment upon stipulation, the transferee district court clerk shall transmit a copy of that order to the Clerk of the Panel. The terminated action shall not be remanded to the transferor court and the transferee court shall retain the original files and records unless the transferee judge or the Panel directs otherwise. (b) Initiation of Remand. The Panel may remand an action or any separable claim, cross- claim, counterclaim or third-party claim within it, upon (i) (ii) the transferee court’s suggestion of remand, which shall be filed with the Panel; the Panel’s own initiative by entry of an order to show cause, a conditional remand order or other appropriate order; or (iii) motion of any party. RULE 10.2: CONDITIONAL REMAND ORDERS (CRO) (a) Entering a CRO. Upon the suggestion of the transferee judge or the Panel’s own initiative, the Clerk of the Panel shall enter a conditional order remanding the action, actions, or any separable claim, cross-claim, counterclaim or third-party claim to the transferor district court. The Clerk of the Panel shall serve this order on each party to the litigation but shall not send the order to the clerk of the transferee district court for 7 days from the entry thereof. (i) The Panel may, on its own initiative, also enter an order that the parties show cause why a matter should not be remanded. Rule 8.1 applies to responses and replies with respect to such a show cause order. (b) Notice of Opposition. Any party opposing the CRO shall file a notice of opposition with the Clerk of the Panel within the 7-day period. In such event, the Clerk of the Panel shall not transmit the remand order to the clerk of the transferee district court and shall issue a “Notice of Filed Opposition” notifying the parties of the briefing schedule. - 12 - (c) acquiescence to it. Failure to Respond. Failure to respond to a CRO shall be treated as that party’s (d) Notice of Appearance. Within 14 days of the Clerk of the Panel issuing a “Notice of Filed Opposition” to a CRO, each opposing party or designated attorney shall file a Notice of Appearance in accordance with Rule 4.1(c). (e) Corporate Disclosure Statement. Within 14 days of the Clerk of the Panel issuing a “Notice of Filed Opposition” to a CRO, each non-governmental corporate party shall file a corporate disclosure statement in accordance with Rule 5.1(a). (f) Motion to Vacate CRO. Within 14 days of the Clerk of the Panel issuing a “Notice of Filed Opposition” to a CRO, the party opposing remand shall file a motion to vacate the CRO and brief in support thereof. The Clerk of the Panel shall set the motion for the next appropriate Panel hearing session. Failure to file and serve a motion and brief shall be treated as a withdrawal of the opposition and the Clerk of the Panel shall forthwith transmit the order to the clerk of the transferee district court. (g) Effective Date of CRO. A CRO becomes effective (also referred to as “finalized”) when it is filed with the clerk of the transferee district court. RULE 10.3: MOTION TO REMAND (a) Requirements of the Motion. If the Clerk of the Panel does not enter a CRO, a party may file a motion to remand to the transferor court pursuant to these Rules. Because the Panel is reluctant to order a remand absent the suggestion of the transferee judge, the motion must include: (i) an affidavit reciting whether the movant has requested a suggestion of remand and the judge’s response, whether the parties have completed common discovery and other pretrial proceedings, and whether the parties have complied with all transferee court orders; and (ii) a copy of the transferee district court’s final pretrial order, if entered. Counsel shall serve a notice of filing and schedule of actions in the transferee district court. (b) Notice of Filing of Motion to Remand. Upon receipt of a motion, the Clerk of the Panel shall issue a “Notice of Filing of Motion to Remand” notifying the parties of the briefing schedule. (c) Notice of Appearance. Within 14 days of the Clerk of the Panel issuing a “Notice of Filing of Motion to Remand,” each party or designated attorney shall file a Notice of Appearance in accordance with Rule 4.1(c). (d) Corporate Disclosure Statement. Within 14 days of the Clerk of the Panel issuing a “Notice of Filing of Motion to Remand,” each non-governmental corporate party shall file a Corporate Disclosure Statement in accordance with Rule 5.1(a). - 13 - RULE 10.4: TRANSFER OF FILES ON REMAND (a) Designating the Record. Upon receipt of an order to remand from the Clerk of the Panel, the parties shall furnish to the transferee district clerk within 28 days, or such other time period as the transferee court shall direct, a stipulation or designation of the contents of the record or part thereof to be remanded. (b) Transfer of Files. Upon receipt of an order to remand from the Clerk of the Panel, the transferee district shall transmit to the clerk of the transferor district the following concerning each remanded action: (i) a copy of the individual docket sheet for each action remanded; (ii) a copy of the master docket sheet, if applicable; (iii) a copy of the final pretrial order, if applicable; and (iv) the stipulation or designation of the contents of the record or part thereof to be remanded, in accordance with Rule 10.4(a). RULE 11.1: HEARING SESSIONS AND ORAL ARGUMENT (a) Schedule. The Panel shall schedule sessions for oral argument and consideration of other matters as desirable or necessary. The Chair shall determine the time, place and agenda for each hearing session. The Clerk of the Panel shall give appropriate notice to the parties. The Panel may continue its consideration of any scheduled matters. (b) Oral Argument Statement. Any party affected by a motion may file a separate statement setting forth reasons why oral argument should, or need not, be heard. Such statements shall be captioned “Reasons Why Oral Argument Should [Need Not] Be Heard” and shall be limited to 2 pages. (i) The parties affected by a motion to transfer may agree to waive oral argument. The Panel will take this into consideration in determining the need for oral argument. (c) Hearing Session. The Panel shall not consider transfer or remand of any action pending in a federal district court when any party timely opposes such transfer or remand without first holding a hearing session. The Panel may dispense with oral argument in any given matter if it determines that: (i) (ii) the dispositive issue(s) have been authoritatively decided; the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented and oral argument would not significantly aid the decisional process; or (iii) circumstances have rendered oral argument impracticable - 14 - The Panel typically hears oral argument on motions to create a new MDL and dispenses with oral argument for motions involving transfer to or remand from an existing MDL. Unless otherwise ordered, the Panel shall consider all other matters, such as a motion for reconsideration, upon the basis of the case documents. (d) Notification of Oral Argument. The Panel shall promptly notify the parties of those matters in which oral argument is scheduled, as well as those matters that the Panel will consider on the case documents. The Clerk of the Panel shall require parties to file and serve notice of their intent to either make or waive oral argument. Failure to file an oral argument notice shall be deemed a waiver of oral argument. If a party or the party’s counsel does not attend oral argument, the matter shall not be rescheduled, and that party’s position shall be treated as submitted for decision on the basis of the case documents. (i) Absent Panel approval and for good cause shown, only those parties to actions who have filed a motion or written response to a motion or order shall be permitted to present oral argument. (ii) The Panel will not receive oral testimony except upon notice, motion and an order expressly providing for it. (e) Duty to Confer. The parties in an action set for oral argument shall confer separately prior to that argument for the purpose of organizing their arguments and selecting representatives to present all views without duplication. Oral argument is a means for the parties to emphasize the key points of their arguments, and to update the Panel on any events since the conclusion of briefing. (f) Time Limit for Oral Argument. Barring exceptional circumstances, the Panel shall allot a maximum of (and typically fewer than) 20 minutes for oral argument in each motion for centralization under consideration. The time allotted shall be divided among those with varying viewpoints. The moving party or parties shall generally be heard first. Due to the brief time allotted for oral argument in each matter, the Panel strongly discourages the use of demonstrative exhibits during the presentation of oral argument. RULES 12-15: [RESERVED] - 15 - This Page Left Blank - 16 - II. RULES FOR MULTICIRCUIT PETITIONS FOR REVIEW UNDER 28 U.S.C. § 2112(a)(3) RULE 25.1: DEFINITIONS The Panel promulgates these Rules pursuant to its authority under 28 U.S.C. § 2112(a)(3) to provide a means for the random selection of one court of appeals to hear consolidated petitions for review of agency decisions. An “Agency” means an agency, board, commission or officer of the United States government, that has received two or more petitions for review in a court of appeals to enjoin, set aside, suspend, modify or otherwise review or enforce an action.