Multidistrict litigation is engulfing the federal court system and something has to be done.

That’s the message from a Duke Law School expert who says it’s time to give judges clear rules for managing the unwieldy dockets, which constitute roughly one-third of all pending federal cases.

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Rabiej’s proposal, which would apply to so-called mega-MDLs consisting of more than 900 cases, quickly drew skeptics. Deborah Hensler, a law professor at Stanford Law School, called the idea “ill-conceived.”

“If you move in that direction, you’re on the road to destroying what the MDL was supposed to achieve in terms of coordination and consolidation,” she said.