IKO CLASS ACTIONS WILL PROCEED IN URBANA, ILLINOIS

December 3rd, 2009

December 3, 2009

A panel of federal judges has granted the plaintiff’s motion to consolidate all IKO Shingles litigation to the Central District of Illinois. The IKO companies argued in favor of transferring the lawsuits to the Northern District of Illinois; however, the judges declined the companies’ request. The Panel held:

We are persuaded that the Central District of Illinois is an appropriate forum for this docket.

Certain IKO facilities are located in this district, so relevant documents and witnesses are likely found

there. Centralization in this district also permits the Panel to effect the Section 1407 assignment to a

transferee district that is not currently assigned to other multidistrict litigation dockets and to a

transferee judge who has a caseload favorable to accepting the assignment.

We are persuaded that the Central District of Illinois is an appropriate forum for this docket. Certain IKO facilities are located in this district, so relevant documents and witnesses are likely found there.

The ruling means that all lawsuits filed in the United States against the IKO companies alleging they manufactured, marketed, and distributed defective roofing shingles will be heard by the Honorable Michael Patrick McCuskey in the Central District of Illinois. A copy of the Panel’s Order is available for download here.