Federal Panel to Weigh Consolidation of Pandemic Coverage Suits

Small businesses and their insurers are set to plead their case to a special panel of federal judges on the prospect of combining a multitude of lawsuits over pandemic-linked business loss coverage in a single court venue.

The virtual arguments, set for Thursday before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), are the culmination of more than three months of the parties’ squabbling about whether the cases should be consolidated, if at all, in either a Pennsylvania or Illinois district court.

The panel’s ultimate decision is expected to play a role in determining the fate of numerous insurance ...