A federal judiciary panel last year rejected a record number of requests to coordinate multidistrict litigation, adding a new level of scrutiny for attorneys who petition to get large numbers of cases across the country combined under the pretrial procedure.

In 2015, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued 36 denial orders—about 44 percent of the 82 requests made that year. It issued 33 approvals. That’s the first time in the past decade that the panel has denied more requests than approved them.

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Some plaintiffs lawyers fear that “they’re going to lose control over their cases and also may lose some or all of the fees associated with the cases,” said Deborah Hensler, a professor at Stanford Law School.

Yet defendants aren’t pushing MDLs either: They made up only 35 percent of the requests in 2015. Hensler said defense attorneys often have to weigh the inconvenience of handling dozens of cases across the country against the impact that an MDL order could have on the plaintiffs bar.