Group of 38 Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawyers Reappointed to MDL Leadership Roles

Attorneys continue to work through a number of hair relaxer cancer lawsuit bellwether disputes, as fact discovery deadline looms in early June 2026.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal hair relaxer lawsuits being pursued by women who allege they developed cancer from popular chemical straighteners has reappointed dozens of plaintiffs’ lawyers to leadership positions as the litigation moves toward the first bellwether trials.

Cosmetics manufacturers like L’Oreal, Revlon and Strength of Nature face more than 11,000 product liability lawsuits brought by women nationwide, each involving similar allegations that they developed reproductive cancers from hair relaxers following years of exposure to toxic chemicals in Just for Me, Dark & Lovely, Optimum and other popular products.

The lawsuits allege that the manufacturers knew, or should have known, their products increased the risk of uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer and other injuries, yet failed to provide adequate warning to consumers.

Lawsuits first began to be filed following a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in October 2022, which found that women who use hair relaxers more than four times per year face a 156% increased risk of developing uterine cancer. Even infrequent use of between one and four times per year was found to increase the risk of uterine cancer by 54%.

According to plaintiffs, the products were heavily marketed toward women of color in an attempt to financially capitalize on pressure for them to conform to western societal hair beauty standards. However, these actions led to disproportionate exposure to toxic and cancer-causing chemicals, including phthalates, parabens and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals, which have been associated with hormone disruption and the development of tumors in reproductive tissues.

Hair Relaxer Lawyer Reappointments

Since March 2023, all federal complaints have been consolidated into a hair relaxer cancer lawsuit multidistrict litigation (MDL) before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in the Northern District of Illinois for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

When the litigation was first consolidated, Judge Rowland appointed a group of 35 plaintiffs’ attorneys to serve in leadership positions that would represent the interests of all plaintiffs involved in the litigation. These hair relaxer cancer lawsuit attorneys have taken actions during the coordinated pretrial proceedings that have benefitted all women pursuing a hair relaxer injury claim.

Late last week, Judge Rowland issued a court order (PDF) reappointing those lawyers for another year, including four attorneys to serve as co-lead counsel, one plaintiffs’ liaison counsel, an eight-person Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, a 25-person Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and a leadership development committee that includes two co-leads, seven members and a five-member leadership development subcommittee.

The reappointments will last one year, at which time Judge Rowland will decide whether to continue the appointments.

Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Bellwether Trials

The decision to reassign the leadership attorneys comes as Judge Rowland directs the parties to prepare 32 hair relaxer lawsuits for potential bellwether trials, intended to help the court and parties evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their claims, potentially facilitating settlement negotiations to resolve the litigation.

In early April, the Judge selected 10 cases to move forward as bellwether trials. However, on May 21, the parties issued a joint status report (PDF) indicating they face a number of disagreements over the ongoing discovery process, despite a June 10 deadline for fact discovery to be completed. It is currently unclear when the first bellwether trials will take place.

While the results of these bellwether trials will not be binding on other cases, they are expected to give the parties and the court an idea of how juries will weigh evidence, testimony and legal theories that would be a prominent factor throughout the rest of the litigation. It is hoped that the results of these trials could help pave the way for hair relaxer cancer lawsuit settlement negotiations.

If the bellwether trials and pretrial proceedings end with no settlement or other resolution to the litigation, the lawsuits may be remanded back to their originating federal district courts for individual trial dates.

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