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.
Portsmouth is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan areas of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 100,565, and a 2008 Census estimate showed the city's population had slightly increased to 100,577.