The Mass Tort Marketing Glossary

A controlled experiment in which two creative variants — typically differing in a single element like headline, hero image, or call-to-action — are served to statistically comparable audiences so performance differences can be attributed to the change. In mass tort marketing, A/B tests most often target cost-per-lead, contact rate, or retainer rate rather than click-through rate alone.

Also known as: split testing

See also: #Click-Through Rate, #Incremental Lift

American Bar Association Model Rule governing solicitation of prospective clients. Directly relevant to mass tort marketing because it limits real-time electronic solicitation of people known to need legal services in a specific matter unless specific exceptions apply; state bar rules almost always layer additional requirements on top.

See also: #State Bar Advertising Rules

Content visible on screen before the user scrolls, originally a newspaper layout term. On mass tort landing pages the qualifying question, trust badges, and primary CTA should all live above the fold because the majority of bounces happen before any scroll occurs.

See also: #Landing Page, #Largest Contentful Paint

The decline in performance that occurs when the same audience sees the same creative too many times, signaled by falling CTR and rising CPL within a stable audience. Mass tort campaigns hit fatigue quickly because plaintiff pools are finite; rotating creative every 7–14 days is standard practice.

See also: #Frequency Cap, #Creative Rotation

A container inside a campaign that holds a set of ads targeting the same keywords or audience. In mass tort paid search, one ad group typically equals one qualifying condition (e.g. 'hair relaxer users') so Quality Score and message match stay tight.

See also: #Campaign, #Quality Score

Aqueous Film-Forming Foam, a firefighting foam containing PFAS 'forever chemicals' linked to kidney, testicular, and other cancers. The AFFF MDL (2:18-mn-2873) consolidated in South Carolina is one of the largest active mass torts, with claimants including firefighters, military personnel, and water-contamination plaintiffs.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #PFAS, #Bellwether Trial

A lead sourced through a third-party publisher who is compensated on a cost-per-lead or revenue-share basis. Affiliate leads vary widely in quality and TCPA consent cleanliness, so rigorous partner vetting and recorded consent capture are essential before buying.

See also: , #Telephone Consumer Protection Act, #Lead Source

An interface pattern placing a sticky A–Z index on a long reference page so users can jump directly to sections. Used on glossaries, directories, and FAQ hubs to improve dwell time and internal navigation depth.

See also: #Dwell Time

The time period during which a conversion is credited back to a touchpoint — for example, a 7-day click / 1-day view window on Meta. Mass tort campaigns often use shorter windows (24–72 hours) because qualified intent decays fast and long windows over-credit top-of-funnel impressions.

See also: #Pixel, #Conversion

A defined subset of a larger pool grouped by shared attributes such as geography, condition, age range, or intent signal. Mass tort campaigns typically run 4–8 segments per tort so creative can be tightened for each plaintiff profile.

See also: #Lookalike Audience, #Retargeting

Under the TCPA, a system capable of storing or producing telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator. The Supreme Court's 2021 Facebook v. Duguid decision narrowed this definition, but prior-express-written-consent requirements still govern marketing calls to cell phones.

Also known as: ATDS, autodialer

See also: #Telephone Consumer Protection Act, #Prior Express Written Consent

An early trial in an MDL selected to be representative of the broader plaintiff pool, whose verdict signals likely settlement value for remaining cases. Bellwether outcomes are the single largest driver of mass tort settlement timing and size.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Settlement, #Verdict

The algorithm or rule a paid-media platform uses to place bids on your behalf. Options include manual CPC, target CPA, maximize conversions, and target ROAS; mass tort search campaigns typically start on manual CPC to protect against irrational algorithmic bids on high-value qualifying keywords.

See also: , #Quality Score

The percentage of sessions with only a single page view and no engagement event. High bounce on a mass tort landing page usually means message-match failure, weak above-the-fold qualification, or slow load time rather than audience issues.

See also: #Above the Fold, #Landing Page

A Google Ads keyword match type that serves on queries semantically related to the target keyword. In mass tort it burns budget fast because it triggers on tangentially related searches; exact and phrase match with tight negative lists are preferred.

See also: #Negative Keyword, #Exact Match

The rate at which a campaign spends its daily or monthly budget. Mass tort media buyers monitor pacing hourly during launch because front-loaded spend on unqualified traffic can exhaust the budget before qualified impressions accumulate.

See also: #Frequency Cap, #Dayparting

The operational, financial, and marketing side of legal practice — distinguished from the practice of law. Mass tort firms run like specialized asset managers: case inventory is the portfolio, marketing spend is capital deployed, and settlement timing is exit strategy.

See also: #Case Acquisition Cost

Technology that assigns a unique phone number to each traffic source so calls can be attributed back to channel, campaign, keyword, or creative. Dynamic number insertion (DNI) swaps numbers client-side based on referrer; essential for any mass tort campaign measuring CPL by source.

See also: #Attribution Window, #UTM Parameters

A coordinated set of ads, targeting, and budget aimed at a single marketing objective — in mass tort, usually a specific tort (AFFF, NEC, hair relaxer) with its own qualifying criteria, creative, and daily cap.

See also: #Ad Group, #Budget Pacing

The fully-loaded cost to sign a retainer, including media spend, intake labor, co-counsel fees, and overhead. CAC = total spend ÷ signed retainers; the core unit economic of a mass tort practice and the number every firm should know weekly.

Also known as: CAC

See also: , #Retainer Agreement

Expenses advanced by the firm during litigation — filing fees, expert witnesses, medical records, common benefit assessments. Recoverable from settlement under most contingency agreements, but a material drag on cash flow for high-inventory mass tort firms.

See also: , #Common Benefit Fund

The evaluation of a potential plaintiff's likely case value, settlement probability, and fit for the firm's inventory strategy — before signing the retainer. Mass tort firms that underwrite rigorously carry smaller, more profitable portfolios than firms that sign everything.

See also: #Expected Value, #Qualification

A lawsuit where one or more named plaintiffs sue on behalf of a defined class of similarly-situated individuals under Federal Rule 23. Distinct from an MDL: in a class action there is one case with many claimants, in an MDL there are many cases consolidated for pretrial.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation

The percentage of impressions that result in a click. On mass tort search, a healthy CTR is 6–12%; on social, 1–3%. CTR is a relevance signal that directly influences Quality Score and therefore CPC.

Also known as: CTR

See also: #Quality Score

A pool of settlement or verdict proceeds set aside to compensate lead counsel and the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee for work that benefits all MDL plaintiffs. Typically 6–10% of gross recovery, capped by court order.

Also known as: CBF

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Plaintiffs' Steering Committee

The percentage of dialed leads who answer and speak with an intake specialist. Strong mass tort programs hit 55–75% connect rate on sub-5-minute lead age; above 80% usually indicates the data is stale or the lead source is buying outbound lists.

See also: #Contact Rate, #Lead Age

Streaming television delivered over the internet (Roku, Hulu, YouTube TV) rather than linear cable. Mass tort CTV is growing because it combines the trust of TV with digital-style targeting and measurable conversion paths via QR or companion mobile retargeting.

Also known as: CTV

See also: #Direct Response TV, #Reach

The percentage of leads ever reached by any channel — call, text, or email — within the follow-up window. Different from connect rate, which counts only live conversations. A 90% contact rate inside 48 hours is best-in-class.

See also: #Connect Rate, #Service Level Agreement

A tracked user action defined as success — in mass tort usually a completed lead form, qualified call, or signed retainer. Choosing the right conversion event is the most consequential decision in a paid-media setup: optimizing to form-fill produces volume; optimizing to qualified call produces quality.

See also: #Pixel, #Retainer Agreement

Total ad spend divided by the number of target conversions, where 'acquisition' is defined per-campaign (lead, qualified call, or retainer). CPA only means something when the conversion event is specified.

Also known as: CPA

See also:

The amount paid each time a user clicks on a paid ad. Mass tort CPCs on Google Ads range from $4 (broad conditions) to $250+ (saturated litigations like mesothelioma) and are driven by competition density and Quality Score.

Also known as: CPC

See also: #Quality Score

Total ad spend divided by leads generated. The most commonly quoted mass tort procurement number, but misleading in isolation — a $40 CPL that signs 2% is worse than a $120 CPL that signs 18%.

Also known as: CPL

See also: , #Retainer Rate

The cost to deliver one thousand ad impressions. Used on awareness and CTV campaigns where the goal is reach rather than direct response. 'Mille' is Latin for thousand.

Also known as: CPM

See also: #Connected TV, #Reach

Total fully-loaded cost to sign one client under a retainer agreement. CPR is the north-star metric for every mass tort marketing program because it ties media spend directly to case inventory. Benchmarks vary 3× across torts; $1,800–$3,500 CPR is common for Tier-1 torts.

Also known as: CPR

See also: #Case Acquisition Cost, #Retainer Rate

A mass tort arising from Philips' 2021 recall of millions of CPAP, BiPAP, and ventilator devices containing PE-PUR sound-abatement foam linked to cancer and respiratory injury. Consolidated as MDL 3014 in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Recall

The ad asset itself — video, static image, copy, or script. In mass tort, compliance-cleared creative is a scarce asset because every claim must be substantiated, every disclaimer present, and every actor cleared for likeness rights.

See also: #Creative Brief

A structured document aligning agency, creative, and compliance stakeholders before production. For mass tort a brief captures the qualifying criteria, banned claims (e.g. no guaranteed outcomes), required disclaimers, tone, and compliance-approved hero footage.

See also: #Creative

Systematically cycling creative assets in and out of rotation to combat ad fatigue. Best practice: three concurrent creatives per audience with one refreshed every 7–10 days.

See also: #Ad Fatigue, #Creative

An herbicide (dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate) that the EPA issued an emergency suspension order against in August 2024 over fetal development risks. Emerging mass tort with active plaintiff sign-up focused on agricultural workers and pregnancy exposure claimants.

See also: #EPA Action, #Signal Detection

The qualifying date on which a plaintiff's injury, exposure, or use of the product began or occurred. Drives every mass tort statute-of-limitations calculation and is the single most error-prone field in intake.

Also known as: DOI

See also: #Statute of Limitations

A motion challenging the admissibility of expert testimony under Daubert v. Merrell Dow (1993) and FRE 702. In mass tort, Daubert rulings on general and specific causation often determine whether the litigation proceeds at all.

See also: #General Causation, #Multidistrict Litigation

Scheduling ads to run during specific hours of the day. For mass tort, intake center hours are the usual constraint — serving lead-form ads when agents are off shift buries leads in voicemail and crashes contact rate.

See also: #Budget Pacing, #Service Level Agreement

A URL that routes a user directly to a specific in-app or in-page destination rather than a generic homepage. Glossary and FAQ pages use fragment deep links (#term-id) so ads and emails can drop users onto a specific definition.

See also: #UTM Parameters, #Alphabet Nav

The party being sued. In mass tort this is usually a pharmaceutical, medical device, or chemical manufacturer; identifying all potentially liable entities (parent, subsidiary, distributor) in the complaint is the difference between full and partial recovery.

See also: #Plaintiff

A lead rejected during intake because they fail medical, geographic, temporal, or other qualifying criteria. Tracking DNQ reasons by source is how you diagnose bad traffic before it burns the budget.

Also known as: DNQ

See also: #Disposition Code, #Pre-Qualification

Television advertising designed to generate immediate response — a phone call or web visit — rather than brand awareness. Mass tort DRTV has been the dominant channel for 40 years; measured by calls-per-point and cost-per-call.

Also known as: DRTV

See also: #Connected TV

A standardized outcome tag applied to every lead record — for example Signed, DNQ-Statute, DNQ-Medical, Callback, Do-Not-Contact. Disposition discipline is the foundation of every meaningful mass tort intake metric.

See also: #Did Not Qualify, #Retainer Rate

The federal National Do Not Call Registry maintained by the FTC. Telemarketing calls to registered numbers without an existing business relationship or express written consent violate the TCPA and trigger $500–$1,500 per-call statutory damages.

Also known as: DNC, National DNC

See also: #Telephone Consumer Protection Act, #Prior Express Written Consent

18 U.S.C. § 2721–2725. Federal statute restricting the use of personal information from motor vehicle records. Directly governs how MVA and rideshare leads may be sourced; violations carry minimum $2,500 liquidated damages per disclosure plus attorney fees.

Also known as: DPPA

See also: #Motor Vehicle Accident Lead, #Telephone Consumer Protection Act

The elapsed time between click and return to the SERP. Long dwell (over 60 seconds) correlates with satisfied searcher intent and feeds positive ranking signals; short dwell on a mass tort landing page suggests qualification friction or poor message match.

See also: #Bounce Rate, #Search Engine Results Page

Google's quality framework for evaluating content: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Legal content sits under Google's YMYL ('Your Money or Your Life') category where E-E-A-T requirements are at their most stringent; named authors with credentials, editorial sourcing, and review dates are effectively mandatory.

Also known as: EEAT

See also: #Your Money or Your Life, #Schema Markup

Any measurable user interaction beyond an impression — click, video view, form start, scroll depth. Platforms that optimize to engagement rather than conversion typically produce cheaper vanity metrics and worse business outcomes for mass tort.

See also: #Conversion, #Click-Through Rate

Regulatory activity from the Environmental Protection Agency — pesticide cancellations, drinking-water MCL updates, emergency suspensions — that frequently signals an emerging environmental tort 18–36 months before MDL formation.

See also: #Signal Detection, #FAERS

A Google Ads keyword match type that triggers only on queries closely matching the keyword's meaning. The preferred match type for high-cost mass tort terms because it protects against expensive irrelevant impressions.

See also: #Broad Match, #Negative Keyword

A lead sold to only one law firm, as opposed to a shared lead offered to multiple firms simultaneously. Mass tort programs should only buy exclusive leads for any category where sign rate matters; shared-lead sign rates degrade multiplicatively with every competing caller.

See also:

The probability-weighted value of a case given estimated settlement likelihood and quantum. Mass tort firms apply EV math to every marketing investment: EV per retainer × retainer volume – fully loaded CPR = contribution margin.

Also known as: EV

See also: #Case Acquisition Cost, #Settlement

FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. Public database of voluntary adverse event and medication error reports submitted to the FDA. Rising signal counts in FAERS are one of the earliest public indicators of an emerging pharmaceutical tort.

See also: #MAUDE, #Signal Detection

The FDA pathway allowing medical devices to reach market by demonstrating substantial equivalence to a predicate device, without the full PMA clinical trial process. Many mass tort medical device cases hinge on whether 510(k) clearance shielded the manufacturer from design-defect liability.

See also: #MAUDE, #Defendant

The first conversion event in a user's attributed path — usually the first form fill or call. Used in mass tort analytics to separate newly-acquired plaintiffs from duplicates re-attributed across multiple campaigns.

Also known as: FDA

See also: #Attribution Window

Google Campaign Manager's conversion pixel, used by larger mass tort buyers for cross-channel attribution. Supports post-click and post-view measurement; more configurable than the consumer GA4/Google Ads tag.

See also: #Pixel, #Attribution Window

A completed lead form, typically capturing name, phone, email, and a few qualifying questions. Form-fills are the cheapest conversion event but the lowest-quality endpoint; using form-fill as the sole optimization target almost always degrades retainer rate over time.

See also: #Conversion, #Lead

A doctrine allowing a court to dismiss or transfer a case to a more convenient forum. Relevant to mass tort when defendants move to dismiss plaintiff filings from plaintiff-friendly venues; often a major pretrial battleground.

See also: #Venue, #Multidistrict Litigation

An upper limit on how many times the same user sees the same ad in a given window. Critical in mass tort because uncapped social campaigns can serve the same 30-second video to the same user 40 times a week and collapse CTR.

See also: #Ad Fatigue, #Reach

Evidence that a substance is capable of causing the injury alleged, as a matter of general science — distinct from specific causation, which addresses whether it did so in this plaintiff. General causation rulings (often via Daubert) can end mass tort litigation before any individual case is tried.

See also: #Daubert Motion, #Specific Causation

Restricting ad delivery to specific geographic areas. Mass tort campaigns geo-target by state (venue favorability), media market (DMA), or radius around exposure sites (military bases for AFFF, water districts for PFAS contamination).

See also: #Venue

The standard measure of television advertising weight: reach × frequency. 100 GRPs means the equivalent of 100% of the target audience seeing the ad once. Still the primary planning unit for mass tort DRTV buys.

Also known as: GRP

See also: #Direct Response TV, #Reach

An MDL (3060, N.D. Ill.) alleging that chemical hair relaxers — particularly those marketed to Black women — caused uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, and uterine fibroids. Signal publication was the 2022 NIH Sister Study; MDL formed February 2023.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Signal Detection

Informal industry shorthand for communication practices that, while not technically covered by HIPAA, mirror its safeguards — encryption of PHI, audit logging, BAAs with vendors. Mass tort intake operations should treat medical qualifying questions as HIPAA-adjacent even when HIPAA itself does not apply.

See also: , #Personally Identifiable Information

A formal directive requiring preservation of documents and data relevant to anticipated litigation. Defendants receiving a litigation hold cannot delete emails, test data, or internal reports about the product at issue.

See also: , #Defendant

A single instance of an ad being served, whether or not it was actually seen. Distinct from viewable impression (at least 50% on screen for 1 second for display, 2 for video), which is the metric most mass tort buyers actually pay on.

See also: , #Viewability

A Google Ads audience segment of users whose recent browsing behavior suggests active interest in a category — e.g. 'legal services' or 'personal injury law'. Useful as a layered targeting signal but insufficient on its own for mass tort qualification.

See also: #Audience Segment, #Retargeting

The additional conversions attributable to a campaign versus a holdout control. The only rigorous way to measure whether paid-media spend is actually causing retainer signings or just claiming credit for activity that would have happened anyway.

See also: #A/B Testing, #Attribution Window

The process of receiving a lead, qualifying it against case criteria, and (if qualified) converting it into a signed retainer. Intake is where most mass tort programs fail — a pristine media campaign cannot rescue a broken intake operation.

See also: #Qualification, #Retainer Agreement

The structured dialog guiding an intake specialist through qualification. Strong mass tort scripts open with empathy, qualify with 4–6 disqualifying questions before anything else, and never state or imply case value.

See also: #Qualification

An appeal of a court ruling made during ongoing litigation, before final judgment. Common in mass tort when parties appeal Daubert, class certification, or preemption rulings that could determine the litigation's trajectory.

See also: #Daubert Motion

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The seven-judge federal body that decides whether to consolidate related federal cases into an MDL and which district will host it. JPML hearings happen in-person on the last Thursday of designated months.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Transfer Order

MDL 2913 (N.D. Cal.) consolidating lawsuits alleging that JUUL Labs marketed e-cigarettes to minors and caused nicotine addiction and related injuries. Largely resolved via $438.5M multistate settlement in 2022 and subsequent individual claim resolutions.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Settlement

A metric selected to measure success against a business goal. Mass tort KPIs sorted by decisional weight: cost per retainer, retainer rate, signed-to-paid conversion, average case value, campaign payback period.

Also known as: KPI

See also: , #Retainer Rate

A search query that triggers an ad. Mass tort keyword strategy is asymmetric — ten keywords often drive 80% of qualified volume, while hundreds of long-tail terms exist mainly for discovery and defensive coverage.

See also: #Exact Match, #Quality Score

The dedicated web page users reach after clicking a mass tort ad. Every variable — headline, hero, qualifying question order, CTA color, form length — is a CPR lever. Best-in-class mass tort LPs qualify above the fold and pre-sell below it.

See also: #Above the Fold, #Form Fill

A Core Web Vitals metric measuring when the largest visible element renders. Target under 2.5 seconds. Mass tort landing pages that miss LCP bleed paid-media spend to bounce before the user ever sees the qualifying question.

Also known as: LCP

See also: , #Landing Page

A person who has expressed interest in legal representation, typically via form-fill or inbound call. A lead is a candidate, not yet a client; every downstream intake metric measures what percentage of leads become signed retainers.

See also: #Retainer Agreement, #Qualification

The elapsed time between lead creation and first outreach. Mass tort connect rates drop about 10 percentage points every 5 minutes for the first hour. Sub-5-minute response time is table stakes.

See also: #Service Level Agreement, #Connect Rate

The full set of activities producing qualified leads for a law firm — paid media, SEO, referrals, TV, direct mail. Mass tort lead generation is typically outsourced to specialized agencies because the compliance and platform expertise is deep and narrow.

See also: #Lead, #Plaintiff Acquisition

A machine-to-machine interface accepting lead data from upstream sources (publishers, form providers, call platforms) directly into the firm's case management system. Replaces CSV imports and eliminates the 8–24 hour latency that kills mass tort connect rate.

See also: #Call Tracking, #Lead Age

The specific channel, campaign, or partner that produced a lead. Source-level reporting is the foundation of every rational mass tort budget decision; aggregate CPL or CPR without source breakdown is actionable as well as a blood-pressure reading.

See also: #Call Tracking, #UTM Parameters

A routing system that offers a lead to the highest-paying firm first, falls to the next-highest on decline, and so on. Waterfall economics compress CPL across the industry but also magnify TCPA risk because consent must chain cleanly across every potential recipient.

See also: , #Telephone Consumer Protection Act

Per Lexecon Inc. v. Milberg Weiss (1998), an MDL transferee court cannot try cases not originally filed in it without party consent. A Lexecon waiver is the agreement by which plaintiffs consent to bellwether trial in the MDL court rather than remand.

See also: #Bellwether Trial, #Multidistrict Litigation, #Remand

A lead format in which a pre-qualified prospect is warm-transferred by phone directly to the law firm's intake team. Highest-quality, highest-cost mass tort lead product; CPR is often 25–40% lower than form-fill despite CPL being 3–5× higher.

See also: #Warm Transfer

A Meta or Google audience built by modeling users who resemble a seed list — usually prior converters or customers. Mass tort lookalikes work best when seeded with signed retainers rather than form-fills to avoid re-training the algorithm on low-quality prospects.

Also known as: LAL

See also: #Audience Segment, #Seed List

FDA's Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience database. Public repository of medical device adverse event reports; the medical-device analogue to FAERS and a primary early signal source for device torts.

See also: #FAERS, #Signal Detection

The distribution of marketing spend across channels — search, social, CTV, DRTV, direct mail, out-of-home. Mature mass tort programs run 4–6 channels concurrently because any single channel saturates and CPR deteriorates without diversification.

See also:

A required conference between opposing counsel before filing certain motions. In mass tort MDLs, meet-and-confers on discovery, bellwether selection, and case management orders can run weekly for years.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation

Consistency between the ad creative and the landing-page experience. When ad copy says 'Were you injured by a hair relaxer?' and the page opens with 'Find a personal injury attorney,' message match is broken and bounce rate spikes.

See also: #Landing Page, #Bounce Rate

A lead generated from a car, truck, or rideshare crash — a personal injury lead category rather than a mass tort, though the intake economics share structure. Key variables: state fault rules, vehicle type (commercial amplifies value), injury severity, medical treatment status.

Also known as: MVA lead

See also: , #Driver's Privacy Protection Act

A federal procedure under 28 U.S.C. § 1407 that consolidates civil cases sharing common questions of fact into a single district for coordinated pretrial proceedings. Most major modern mass torts — AFFF, hair relaxer, paraquat, social media harm — run as MDLs.

Also known as: MDL

See also: #JPML, #Bellwether Trial

MDL 3026 (N.D. Ill.) alleging that cow-milk-based infant formulas (Similac, Enfamil) caused necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants. Signal documents trace back to a 2011 American Academy of Pediatrics statement.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Bellwether Trial

A query that, when matched, prevents an ad from serving. Disciplined negative-keyword management is how high-performing mass tort search programs keep irrelevant clicks out of the budget. Weekly review is table stakes.

See also: #Exact Match, #Quality Score

A post-bankruptcy successor entity, most infamously Johnson & Johnson's attempted 'Texas two-step' via LTL Management. Mass tort plaintiffs frequently face bankruptcy proceedings that cap or restructure recovery; understanding § 524(g) trusts is essential to valuing any litigation against a distressed defendant.

See also: #Defendant

The affirmative act by which a consumer gives consent to receive marketing communication. Under the TCPA, marketing calls to cell phones require 'prior express written consent' — an opt-in meeting specific disclosure, signature, and record-keeping requirements.

See also: #Prior Express Written Consent, #Telephone Consumer Protection Act

MDL 3094 (E.D. Pa.) consolidating claims that GLP-1 receptor agonists (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro) caused gastroparesis, ileus, and vision loss. Early-stage litigation with rapidly evolving plaintiff criteria.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #FAERS

MDL 3004 (S.D. Ill.) consolidating claims that the herbicide paraquat causes Parkinson's disease in agricultural workers and farmers. Daubert rulings in 2024 significantly reshaped plaintiff strategy.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Daubert Motion

Information that can identify a specific individual — name, phone, SSN, date of birth, medical information. Mass tort intake systems handle large volumes of PII and must apply encryption at rest, least-privilege access, and audit logging.

Also known as: PII

See also: #HIPAA-Adjacent, #Driver's Privacy Protection Act

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Synthetic 'forever chemicals' linked to cancer, thyroid disease, and liver injury; the umbrella category covering AFFF, drinking water contamination, and consumer product class actions.

See also: #AFFF, #EPA Action

A small tracking tag embedded on a page to record visits and pass conversion events back to an ad platform. The Meta Pixel and Google Ads tag are the two most consequential mass tort infrastructure elements; misconfiguration silently destroys campaign optimization.

See also: #Conversion, #UTM Parameters

The party bringing a lawsuit. In mass tort marketing, every dollar spent is ultimately measured against signed plaintiffs — not leads, not clicks, not impressions.

See also: #Defendant, #Retainer Agreement

The end-to-end process of identifying, qualifying, and signing plaintiffs into active litigation. A broader frame than 'lead generation' because it includes co-counsel referral networks, claimant outreach, and portfolio strategy.

See also: #Lead Generation, #Case Acquisition Cost

A standardized questionnaire plaintiffs complete in an MDL covering medical history, exposure details, and damages. PFS completeness and accuracy is the gating criterion for case settlement; incomplete PFSs get dismissed.

Also known as: PFS

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Qualification

The group of plaintiffs' lawyers appointed by the MDL court to lead pretrial proceedings on behalf of all plaintiffs. PSC appointment is highly competitive and materially affects a firm's role in the litigation's direction and fees.

Also known as: PSC

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Common Benefit Fund

Screening prospects against tort criteria before they are accepted as leads. Done on the landing page (questions), in the ad unit (Lead Form targeting), or in a pre-call IVR. Aggressive pre-qual raises CPL but almost always lowers CPR.

See also: #Qualification

The TCPA's heightened consent standard for marketing calls and texts to cell phones using an ATDS or prerecorded voice. Requires a signed, dated, written agreement clearly authorizing the specific seller to call the specific number with marketing content.

Also known as: PEWC

See also: #Telephone Consumer Protection Act

Automated buying of display, video, and CTV inventory via real-time bidding across ad exchanges. Powerful reach tool for mass tort awareness phases but usually a poor direct-response channel without careful retargeting architecture.

See also: #Connected TV, #Retargeting

The process of determining whether a lead meets tort-specific criteria — geographic, medical, temporal, exposure-related. Rigorous qualification is the single largest CPR lever available without touching media spend.

See also: #Pre-Qualification, #Did Not Qualify

A 1–10 Google Ads rating per keyword reflecting expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing-page experience. Higher Quality Score = lower CPC for the same position. On high-competition mass tort keywords, a one-point Quality Score difference can equate to $30–$80 in CPC.

See also: , #Click-Through Rate

The number of unique users exposed to an ad within a defined window. Half of the reach-times-frequency formula that underlies every mass tort media plan.

See also: #Frequency Cap, #Gross Rating Points

A manufacturer's or regulator's action to remove a defective product from market. Class I FDA recalls (serious injury or death) almost always precede mass tort MDL formation and are the single most reliable early signal available.

See also: #Signal Detection, #Defendant

The return of a case from the MDL court to its originating district after pretrial proceedings conclude. MDL judges remand cases for trial unless the parties execute Lexecon waivers consenting to trial in the MDL venue.

See also: #Lexecon Waiver, #Multidistrict Litigation

The signed agreement between a plaintiff and attorney establishing representation. In mass tort marketing, a signed retainer is the only conversion event that actually matters; every metric upstream is a proxy.

See also: #Plaintiff

The percentage of leads that convert into signed retainer agreements. Industry benchmarks vary dramatically by tort and lead type: 8–12% for form-fill leads, 25–40% for qualified live transfers.

See also: #Retainer Agreement, #Live Transfer

Serving ads specifically to users who have previously visited a site or engaged with a prior ad. In mass tort, retargeting is where above-the-funnel CTV and programmatic spend is rescued into measurable conversion.

Also known as: remarketing

See also: #Pixel, #Audience Segment

Revenue (or expected revenue) divided by ad spend. Mass tort ROAS calculations have to use risk-adjusted expected case value rather than booked revenue because realization lags by 18–48 months.

Also known as: ROAS

See also: #Expected Value

Mass tort alleging that glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Originally MDL 2741 (N.D. Cal.), since expanded to state-court inventories. Bayer/Monsanto has paid over $11B in settlements since 2020 with active inventory continuing.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Settlement

Structured data (usually JSON-LD) embedded in HTML that helps search engines and AI systems parse page content. Mass tort pages should implement Article, FAQPage, DefinedTerm, BreadcrumbList, and Organization schema at minimum.

See also: #E-E-A-T, #Your Money or Your Life

Paid advertising on search engines, primarily Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. Remains the single highest-intent acquisition channel for mass tort — someone typing 'AFFF cancer lawyer' is already in-market.

Also known as: SEM

See also: #Search Engine Optimization, #Quality Score

The practice of earning organic search visibility through technical site health, content quality, and backlink authority. Mass tort SEO is brutally competitive but compounds — a page that ranks for 'paraquat lawsuit settlement' can drive retainers for years at marginal cost.

Also known as: SEO

See also: #Search Engine Marketing, #E-E-A-T

The page of results Google returns for a query. Modern SERPs are dominated by ads, AI Overviews, People-Also-Ask, and knowledge panels — often pushing traditional 10-blue-links below the fold.

Also known as: SERP

See also: #Search Engine Optimization

A Google Ads report showing the actual queries that triggered paid impressions. The single most valuable weekly artifact for any mass tort search program — it's where negative keywords are harvested and new qualifying-intent terms are discovered.

See also: #Negative Keyword, #Keyword

The source audience used to build a lookalike model — a list of prior converters, signed plaintiffs, or high-LTV customers. Mass tort seed lists should use retainer-signed plaintiffs, not form-fill leads, to train lookalikes on genuine quality.

See also: #Lookalike Audience, #Audience Segment

A defined performance commitment — e.g. 'first call within 4 minutes of lead receipt.' Mass tort lead-response SLAs directly govern connect rate; monitor them hourly, not daily.

Also known as: SLA

See also: #Lead Age, #Connect Rate

The resolution of a case for agreed compensation, typically without admission of liability. Mass tort settlements may be individual, bellwether-driven, or global (e.g. master settlement agreements); allocation grids determine which plaintiffs get what.

See also: #Bellwether Trial

The analytical practice of identifying emerging tort opportunities early — typically 12–24 months before MDL formation — by monitoring FAERS, MAUDE, EPA actions, peer-reviewed literature, and recall activity. The foundation of a mass tort firm's pipeline strategy.

See also: #FAERS, #MAUDE, #Recall

MDL 3047 (N.D. Cal.) and parallel state-court JCCP consolidating claims that Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube designed platforms to addict minors and cause mental-health injuries. Major emerging tort with rapid inventory growth.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Recall

Evidence that the substance at issue actually caused this plaintiff's injury, as opposed to general causation (that it can cause the injury in principle). Plaintiffs must establish both in virtually every mass tort.

See also: #General Causation, #Daubert Motion

A fixed upper limit on daily or campaign lifetime spend. On high-CPC mass tort keywords, running without a hard cap is an invitation to disaster — a broken landing page can burn $20,000 overnight.

See also: #Budget Pacing

State-specific rules governing attorney advertising. Florida, New York, and Texas have the most restrictive regimes; pre-filing review, specific disclaimers, and limits on client testimonials vary by state. Always layer state rules on top of ABA Model Rules.

See also: #ABA Rule 7.3

The deadline by which a lawsuit must be filed. SOL varies by state and cause of action and is usually tolled by the discovery rule in mass tort (the clock starts when the plaintiff knew or should have known of the injury).

Also known as: SOL

See also: , #Date of Incident

MDL 3092 (N.D. Ohio) consolidating claims that sublingual Suboxone film caused severe dental decay. Rapidly growing inventory following September 2023 FDA warning.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #FAERS

Mass tort alleging that Johnson & Johnson talc-based baby powder caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma through asbestos contamination. Complicated by J&J's attempted bankruptcy restructuring via LTL Management (Texas two-step).

See also: #NewCo / Bankruptcy Reorganization

47 U.S.C. § 227. The federal statute governing telemarketing calls, texts, and prerecorded messages. The FCC's 2024 one-to-one consent rule (vacated and remanded in 2025) dramatically reshaped how mass tort leads may be shared across law firms.

Also known as: TCPA

See also: #Prior Express Written Consent

Legal pause of the statute of limitations. In mass tort, tolling agreements between plaintiffs' counsel and defendants can preserve claims during settlement negotiations; many MDLs have operated under multi-year tolling orders.

See also: #Statute of Limitations

A civil wrong causing harm or loss for which the law provides a remedy. Mass torts are categories of tort litigation involving many plaintiffs injured by the same product, drug, or conduct.

See also: #Multidistrict Litigation, #Class Action

An internal ranking of torts by inventory economics — settlement probability, average case value, payback period, saturation. Tier 1 (AFFF, Roundup, hair relaxer) commands premium CPR; Tier 3 is speculative inventory with higher variance.

See also: #Expected Value

The JPML order consolidating related federal cases into an MDL. The transfer order specifies the transferee court, the transferee judge, and which cases are in scope.

See also: #JPML, #Multidistrict Litigation

URL query-string tags (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, utm_term) that attach campaign metadata to inbound clicks. Consistent UTM discipline is the single cheapest improvement most mass tort programs could make to their attribution.

See also: #Attribution Window, #Call Tracking

The geographic jurisdiction where a case is filed. Venue choice materially affects verdict likelihood and quantum; plaintiff's counsel weighs jury composition, local rules, docket speed, and judicial tendencies.

See also: #Forum Non Conveniens, #JPML

The formal decision of a jury (or judge in a bench trial). Bellwether verdicts in MDLs are signal events that frequently drive defendants toward settlement; a single $100M verdict can re-price an entire inventory.

See also: #Bellwether Trial, #Settlement

Whether an ad impression was actually rendered on screen long enough to be potentially seen. MRC standards: 50% of pixels on screen for 1 second (display) or 2 seconds (video). Mass tort buyers pay close attention because programmatic inventory averages 55–70% viewability.

See also: #Impression, #Programmatic

A call-center handoff in which the screener stays on the line to introduce the prospect to the receiving agent. Best-practice mass tort live transfers are warm, not cold, because cold transfers routinely lose the prospect in the moment of silence.

See also: #Live Transfer, #Connect Rate

Google's content category for pages affecting health, legal, or financial wellbeing. Legal content is YMYL, so Google applies stricter E-E-A-T quality standards; thin content ranks poorly and AI Overviews decline to cite weakly-sourced legal pages.

Also known as: YMYL

See also: #E-E-A-T, #Schema Markup

Mass tort alleging that ranitidine (Zantac) degrades into the carcinogen NDMA. Federal MDL 2924 (S.D. Fla.) dismissed on Daubert grounds in 2022, but parallel state-court dockets (notably Delaware and California) continue with active inventory.

See also: #Daubert Motion, #Multidistrict Litigation

A SERP result that answers the query without requiring a click-through — AI Overviews, featured snippets, People-Also-Ask expansions. A rising share of mass tort informational queries now resolve zero-click, which elevates the strategic importance of brand mentions inside those features.

See also: , #Search Engine Results Page