What factors will the court consider in deciding whether to consolidate or not to consolidate the cases?

Here, consolidation will likely save time and effort given the similarity of the purported classes, claims, and time periods at issue. Though there are some differences with respect to all three of these, discovery will likely overlap to a large degree, and requiring the cases to maintain their separate character would cause unnecessary repetition and inefficiency. While there is some authority indicating that district courts may require the filing of a single complaint in cases that are consolidated, the court declines to require this. From this point forward, the cases are consolidated, but "each suit [shall] retain its separate character." Schnabel v. Lui, 302 F.3d 1023, 1035-36 (9th Cir. 2002) (discussing various instances in which consolidation does not "merge suits into a single cause of action").