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MGM Resorts Can't Centralize Mass Shooting Lawsuits, Panel Rules

MGM Resorts Can't Centralize Mass Shooting Lawsuits, Panel Rules

(Bloomberg) -- MGM Resorts International lost a bid to consolidate the lawsuits filed by victims of last year’s mass shooting in Las Vegas before one judge in federal court.

A judicial panel on Wednesday said it wasn’t convinced by MGM Resorts’ argument that it may face thousands of claims from the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting at the Harvest Festival, in which 58 people were killed and hundreds were wounded when a gunman opened fire from a room at the Mandalay Bay hotel.

Only a handful of lawsuits by victims are currently pending in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. For its part, MGM Resorts sued about 2,000 people in an effort to get a court declaration that it can’t be held liable for deaths, injuries or other damages.

Lawyers for the shooting victims, who want their suits kept in state court, have said MGM Resorts’ request to centralize the lawsuits was “forum shopping” and “nothing more than an attempt to limit the victims’ access to justice.”

“We respect the panel’s decision and will continue to litigate our motions in the courts where the actions are pending., MGM said in an emailed statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Peter Blumberg

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