3/24/2026
After the March 5, 2026 status hearing, the focus in MDL 3060 – In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices and Product Liability Litigation continues to be on the expert discovery that will be allowed in the 32 bellwether cases. Science Day, the hearing during which the parties in the MDL seek to educate the judge on the relevant scientific general causation concepts was held on January 8, 2026. The deadline for the close of general causation expert discovery for the 32 initial bellwether discovery cases was March 2, 2026.
The following are upcoming key dates:
• April 1, 2026: Deadline to file general causation Rule 702 (Daubert) motions to challenge the scientific evidence. These motions are aimed at challenging the scientific reliability and credibility of the expert testimony being offered linking the chemicals in hair relaxers manufactured by the defendants to uterine and ovarian cancers.
• May 1, 2026: Deadline for filing oppositions to any Daubert motions that have been filed
• May 15, 2026: Reply briefs to any filed Daubert motions must be filed.
• March-June 2026: Additional case-specific fact discovery and expert reports are due.
• November 16, 2026: Deadline to file summary judgment and non-general causation Daubert motions.
Judge Rowland is encouraging the parties to come to an agreement on basic issues such as warnings and product instructions, marketing and advertising in an effort to streamline the proceedings.
In addition, defendants have deposed 29 of the bellwether plaintiffs but disputes over corporate witness depositions continue with the defendants willing to offer written stipulations to certain facts in lieu of having corporate witnesses testify about certain key topics including marketing, warnings and labeling. The parties have yet to reach an agreement on this issue.
There are currently 11,440 plaintiffs in the MDL
Judge Appoints MDL 3060 Leadership Team for Hair Product Litigation
March 14, 2023
On March 3, 2023, Judge Mary M. Rowland, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, appointed a number of attorneys to leadership positions for the hair product litigation cases in MDL 3060: In Re: Hair Relaxer Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation. In the order making her appointments, the judge noted that she had relied on a number of criteria, including a willingness and availability to commit to a time-consuming project; the ability to work cooperatively with others; professional experience in this type of hair product litigation; access to sufficient resources to advance the litigation in a timely manner; and diversity.
The Order lists the following leadership appointments:
Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel
Benjamin L. Crump, Ben Crump Law Firm
Fidelma Fitzpatrick, Motley Rice LLC
Michael A. London, Douglas & London, P.C
Diandra “Fu” Debrosse Zimmermann, DiCello Levitt LLC
Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel
Edward A. Wallace, Wallace Miller
Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC)
Brian Barr,Levin Papantonio Rafferty
Tim Becker, Johnson Becker
Jayne Conroy Simmons, Hanly Conroy
Kelly M. Dermody, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
Jennifer Hoekstra, Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, PLLC
LaRuby May, May Jung
Rene F. Rocha, Morgan & Morgan
Larry Taylor, The Cochran Firm
Navan Ward, Beasley Allen
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC)
Anne Andrews, Andrews & Thornton
Greg Cade, Environmental Law Group
Thomas P. Cartmell, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP
Andrew Childers, Childers, Schleuter & Smith
Erin Copeland, Fibich Leebron Copeland Briggs
Maria Fleming, Napoli Shkolnik
Lee Floyd, Breit Biniazan
Kendra Y. Goldhirsch, Chaffin Luhana LLP
Kristine Kraft, Schlichter Bogard & Denton
Buffy Martines, Laminack, Pirtle & Martines
Melanie Muhlstock, Parker Waichman
David A. Neiman, Romanucci & Blandin, LLC
Michelle Parfitt, Ashcraft & Gerel, LLP
Syreeta Poindexter, Babin Law
EricaRae Garcia, Weitz & Luxenberg
Steve Rotman, Hausfeld
Richard W. Schulte, Wright & Schulte LLC
Ashlie Case Sletvold, Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise, LLP
Chris Stewart, Stewart Mille Simmons
Aimee Wagstaff, Wagstaff Law Firm
Mikal Watts, Watts Guerra
On February 7, 2023, the Motion to Transfer that had been submitted to the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) by plaintiffs seeking to consolidate all pending actions filed against a number of defendants, including cosmetics giant L’Oreal, for injuries allegedly sustained by the use of Defendants’ hair care products, was granted. Plaintiffs claim that exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in the defendants’ hair relaxer products caused “disruption of the endocrine system”. These products are commonly used by millions of women of color and according to a report published in October, 2022, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, may be associated with an increased risk for uterine cancer.
