Show Cause Order

A show cause order is a court order requiring a party — typically plaintiff's counsel on behalf of one or more claimants — to appear or file a written submission demonstrating why a specified adverse action, most commonly dismissal, should not be taken given an identified deficiency, such as chronic fact sheet non-compliance, failure to prosecute, or failure to comply with a prior case management deadline. Show cause orders function as the final procedural checkpoint before dismissal in most MDL enforcement sequences, giving plaintiffs' counsel one last defined opportunity to cure the deficiency, explain extenuating circumstances, or voluntarily dismiss the claim before the court acts unilaterally. Transferee courts frequently issue show cause orders in batches covering hundreds of claims identified through a periodic compliance audit, with a single hearing or briefing schedule resolving the fate of the entire batch. Because a show cause order sits at the intersection of docket management efficiency and individual due process — courts must balance moving a large docket forward against ensuring individual claimants are not dismissed without adequate notice — the standards courts apply to responses vary, with some transferee judges granting liberal extensions for good cause and others enforcing deadlines strictly to maintain docket discipline.

A cluster of show cause orders directed at a specific firm's inventory is an early warning signal that a portion of that firm's claim pool is at imminent risk of dismissal, and funders with exposure to that firm's docket should treat it as a trigger for reserve review rather than waiting for the resulting dismissal order.

Because show cause responses are public docket filings, they also give funders a low-cost, real-time diligence tool for monitoring the health of a funded firm's inventory between formal reporting periods.