A mass tort is a civil action involving numerous plaintiffs against one or a few corporate defendants. The tort may involve, for example, personal injuries suffered by numerous plaintiffs as a result of a defective product, or a mass disaster in which there were many injured persons, such as an airplane crash, or exposure of a large group of people to toxic chemicals or pharmaceuticals.
Birmingham is an affluent city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the total population was 19,291. An upscale suburb of Detroit, the city hosts a downtown that attracts shoppers from throughout the Metro Detroit area.