JUDICIAL PANEL ON 

MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION 

RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION JUN - 1 2004 

DOCKET NO. 1623 FILED 

CLERK'S OFFICE 

BEFORE THE JUDICUL PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION 

IN RE TERRORLSM RLSK INSURANCE ACT OF 2002 LITIGATION 

BEFORE m. TERRELL HODGES, CHAIRMAN, JOHN 1;. KEENAN,' 

BRUCE M. SEL YA, D. LO WELL JENSEN, L FREDERICKMOTZ, ROBERT 

L. MILLER, JR., AND KATHRYN H. PlZA TIL, JUDGES OF THE PANEL 

PROCEDURAL ORDER 

Section 107(a)(4) ofthe TerrorismRiskInsurance Act of 2002 (Act),' Pub. L. 107-297,116 Stat. 

2322, provides as follows: 

For each determination [of an 'act of terrorism'], not later than 90 days after the 

occurrence of an act of terrorism, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation shall 

designate [one] district court or, if necessary, multiple district courts oftheunited States 

that shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all actions for any claim 

(including any claim for loss of property, personal injury, or death) relating to or arising 

out of an act of terrorism subject to this section. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict 

Litigation shall select and assign the district court or courts based on the convenience 

of the parties and the just and efficient conduct of the proceedings .... 

An "act of terrorism" is defined in Section 102(1)(A) of this Act as "any act that is certified by the 

Secretary [of the Treasury], in concurrence with the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General of the 

United States ... to be an act of terrorism ...." Accordingly, the 90-day period for the Panel to designate 

the court or courts for litigation covered by the Act begins on the date that the Treasury Secretary 

certifies an act of terrorism. 

Pursuant to the Panel's rulemaking authorityunder 28 U.S.C. 5 1407(f) and in response to the 

Department ofthe Treasury'sNotice ofProposedRulemaking, 5 KD., 69 FR at 25344, the Panel hereby 

orders and adopts the following procedures for litigation under the Act: 

' "That Act established a temporary Terrorism Insurance Program (Propam) under which the Federal 

Government will share the risk of insured loss from certified acts of terrorism with commercial property and 

casualty insurers until the Program ends on December 3 1,2005." 69 FR 25341 (May 6,2004). 
1.a) All interested parties shall have twenty days from the date that the Treasury Secretary 

certifies an act of terrorism to notify the Panel of their suggestions regarding what district court or 

courts the Panel should designate for litigation under the Act; b) such suggestions shall be limited to 

five pages; c) an original and eleven copies of such suggestions shall be submitted for filing to the Clerk 

of the Panel; d) such suggestions are not required to be served on anyone else, except by parties in 

already existing litigation to other parties in that same litigation; and e) the Panel's Rules of Procedure, 

199 F.R.D. 425 (2001), shall otherwise apply to such suggestions. 

2. The Treasury Secretary shall, on the same date that the Treasury Secretary certifies an act of 

terrorism, i) notify the public about this Panel procedural order and particularly about the specifics in 

the preceding paragraph; and ii) notify the Clerk of the Panel that the notice to the public has occurred. 

The Treasury Secretary's notice to the public shall be accomplished broadly through general media 

channels, such as the internet and press releases to broadcast and print media, augmented by direct 

notice to the parties in any already existing litigation known to the Treasury Secretary. 

3. If the Panel decides to afford interested parties the opportunity for oral argument, such 

opportunity would be available only to those interested parties who had submitted timely suggestions 

to the Panel. See Panel Rule 16.1, 199 F.R.D. at 438-40. 

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. $ 14070, these procedures for 

litigation under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 are adopted. 

FOR THE PANEL: 

dd~e 

Wm. Terrell Hodges 

Chairman