The lawyers handling the hair relaxer lawsuits work under a court-appointed leadership team of 35 attorneys in the federal multidistrict litigation In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 3060), pending before Judge Mary M. Rowland in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Four co-lead counsel run the plaintiffs’ side, backed by a nine-member executive committee and a steering committee of roughly 20 more attorneys from firms across the country. Individual claims are filed by outside firms that then feed their cases into the MDL, and most take these cases on contingency.
The Co-Lead Counsel
On March 2, 2023, Judge Rowland appointed the plaintiffs’ leadership team. It drew national attention for its composition: 12 of the appointed attorneys are attorneys of color, and more than half are women.1Law.com. 12 Attorneys of Color Appointed to Lead Hair Relaxer Lawsuits Four attorneys were named co-lead counsel:
- Benjamin L. Crump of the Ben Crump Law Firm, a nationally prominent civil rights attorney who filed the original mass tort complaint in October 2022 alongside Debrosse Zimmermann.2DiCello Levitt. DiCello Levitt’s Fu Zimmermann Appointed to Lead Litigation Against L’Oréal and Others
- Diandra “Fu” Debrosse Zimmermann of DiCello Levitt, managing partner of the firm’s Birmingham office and co-chair of its mass tort division, with leadership roles in the infant formula, paraquat, and social media addiction MDLs.3Mass Torts Made Perfect. Diandra Debrosse Zimmermann
- Fidelma Fitzpatrick of Motley Rice, a toxic-tort specialist with prior lead roles in women’s health mass torts including pelvic mesh and Essure. She was re-appointed as co-lead counsel in April 2025.4Motley Rice. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit
- Michael A. London of Douglas and London.5Motley Rice. Hair Relaxer Leadership
Crump and Debrosse Zimmermann are also co-founders of Shades of Mass, an advocacy organization pushing for greater representation of Black and Hispanic attorneys in mass tort leadership. After the leadership order, Debrosse Zimmermann called it “one of the most racially diverse slates we’ve ever seen” in mass tort litigation.1Law.com. 12 Attorneys of Color Appointed to Lead Hair Relaxer Lawsuits
Executive and Steering Committees
The nine-member Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee draws attorneys from Levin Papantonio Rafferty, Simmons Hanly Conroy, Lieff Cabraser, Morgan and Morgan, The Cochran Firm, and Beasley Allen, among others. A Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee of roughly 20 more attorneys handles day-to-day discovery and pretrial work.5Motley Rice. Hair Relaxer Leadership Edward A. Wallace of Wallace Miller serves as plaintiffs’ liaison counsel, coordinating communication between the court and the plaintiff attorneys.
A separate state-court consolidation was established in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on June 17, 2025, grouping roughly 25 lawsuits. Motley Rice attorney Mike Daly was appointed as one of two plaintiffs’ liaison counsels there.4Motley Rice. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Additional state cases are active in Georgia, Illinois, and New York.
Which Firms Are Taking New Cases
You don’t have to hire a co-lead firm to be part of the MDL. Any plaintiffs’ firm that handles product liability work can file a case directly into MDL No. 3060, and that case is then coordinated with the rest under Judge Rowland’s rulings on discovery, expert testimony, and (eventually) bellwether trials. The firms in the appointed leadership, along with the executive and steering committee firms named above, are the ones actively working up the science and running the litigation, and most of them accept individual clients. Other firms across the country file cases too and rely on the common-benefit work that leadership counsel produces.
Who Qualifies to Be a Client
This is not a class action. Every claim is evaluated on its own facts, and any compensation depends on the individual plaintiff’s product-use history and diagnosis rather than being divided equally among claimants.4Motley Rice. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit
To file, you generally need to show regular use of chemical hair relaxer products over a period of years and a later diagnosis of uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, or ovarian cancer, supported by medical records.4Motley Rice. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Some firms also accept cases involving uterine fibroids that required a hysterectomy, breast cancer, or endometriosis, though the core MDL claims center on the three cancer types.
The documentation a lawyer will ask for typically includes:
- Medical records establishing the diagnosis.
- A product-use history with brand names and approximate dates covering how long and how often you used relaxers.
- Any available purchase receipts or salon records.
Statutes of limitations vary by state, so the window to file depends on where you live and when you were diagnosed. That is the first question a lawyer will answer during an intake call, and it is why sooner is better than later.
Which Companies the Lawyers Are Suing
The master complaint names more than 20 corporate defendants. L’Oréal (through L’Oréal USA and SoftSheen-Carson) is named for Dark and Lovely, Optimum, and Mizani. Revlon is named for Crème of Nature and Revlon Realistic. Strength of Nature and its parent Godrej SON Holdings are named for Motions, Just for Me, Soft and Beautiful, TCB, African Pride, Dr. Miracle’s, and Dream Kids. Dabur International and Namaste Laboratories are named for ORS Olive Oil products. Others include AFAM Concept (Hawaiian Silky), PDC Brands (Cantu), McBride Research Laboratories (Design Essentials), Avlon Industries (Affirm), Beauty Bell Enterprises (Africa’s Best), Luster Products (Pink Conditioning No-Lye Relaxer), and Sally Beauty Holdings (Silk Elements).6ClassAction.org. In Re Hair Relaxer Product Liability Master Complaint7WTHR. MDL Hair Relaxer Case Joint Answer Plaintiffs’ lawyers allege the manufacturers knew their products contained endocrine-disrupting chemicals including formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, parabens, and cyclosiloxanes, and failed to warn consumers about cancer risks.8Motley Rice. Hair Relaxers That Cause Cancer
What the Lawyers Charge
Most firms in this litigation take clients on a contingency-fee basis: you pay nothing upfront, and the attorney’s fee comes out of any eventual recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe no fee.
On top of the individual firm’s fee, the MDL leadership has proposed an 11 percent holdback from gross settlements or verdicts, split as 8 percent for common-benefit litigation work and 3 percent for expense reimbursement. That holdback is designed to be deducted from the attorney-fee portion rather than reducing the client’s base compensation.9Miller & Zois. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Plaintiffs are seeking compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.4Motley Rice. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit
Where the Litigation Stands
More than 11,500 individual lawsuits were pending in the MDL as of May 2026, and no settlements or trial verdicts have been reached. The litigation is moving from discovery into expert testimony and bellwether trial preparation. A “Science Day” hearing, at which both sides presented the scientific evidence on the cancer link to Judge Rowland and visiting state judges, was held in January 2026. The court set April 1, 2026, as the deadline for defendants to file Daubert motions challenging the admissibility of plaintiffs’ expert testimony on causation, and those rulings are widely considered the next critical gate.9Miller & Zois. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit
Judge Rowland took direct control of bellwether case selection, choosing 10 cases herself. She excluded cases with complicating factors such as concurrent talc litigation, plaintiffs with memory loss or other cancer diagnoses, and cases naming only one or two defendants.9Miller & Zois. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Depositions of 29 of 32 bellwether plaintiffs had been completed by mid-2026, and the first bellwether trials are expected in 2027.10Wagstaff Cartmell. In Re Hair Relaxer Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation
On April 22, 2025, Judge Rowland appointed Ellen K. Reisman as special settlement master to coordinate negotiations. No global settlement has been announced, and defendants have argued that plaintiffs must present detailed liability theories for each defendant before meaningful talks can proceed.11AboutLawsuits.com. Hair Relaxer Settlement Master Negotiations Cancer Lawsuits12Lawsuit Information Center. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Analysts project a possible global settlement in late 2026 or 2027, with individual disbursements potentially following in 2027 or 2028.9Miller & Zois. Hair Relaxer Lawsuit To date, the only specifically allocated fund is a $44 million bankruptcy reserve set aside by Revlon.13MDL Update. MDL 3060 Hair Relaxer
If you think you may have a claim, the practical next step is a free intake call with one of the firms working in the MDL. They will screen your product history and diagnosis, confirm your state’s filing deadline, and file directly into MDL No. 3060 if the case qualifies.