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.
Littlefield is a city in and the county seat of Lamb County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,507 at the 2000 census. It is located in a significant cotton growing region, northwest of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado just south of the beginning of the Texas Panhandle. Littlefield has a large denim manufacturing plant operated by American Cotton Growers. Littlefield is named for George W. Littlefield (1842–1920), a Mississippi native, Confederate States of America officer, rancher, banker, and benefactor of the University of Texas at Austin. Littlefield houses the Bill Clayton Detention Center, a 310-bed medium-security facility, which is named for the former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, who resided in Springlake. Near Littlefield is the Triple Arrow Ranch, known for its historical remnants, owned by Lamb County Commissioner's Court Judge and Mrs. William A. Thompson, Jr.