The federal law governing the transfer of civil actions pending in different federal district courts to a single district for consolidated or coordinated pretrial proceedings (Pub. L. No. 90-296, 82 Stat. 109 (1968), codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1407). A party may request a transfer if the actions involve one or more common questions of fact.

A party who wishes to transfer an action must file a motion with the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and file a copy of that motion with the district court in which the moving party's action is pending.

After the transfer, the original transferor courts lose jurisdiction and the transferee court assumes authority to administer all pretrial aspects of the cases.

Any case transferred for consolidated pretrial proceedings is remanded to the original transferor district court for trial, unless it was previously terminated.

The Multidistrict Litigation Act does not apply to any action in which the US is a complainant under the antitrust laws.