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Class Action

Mass Tort Litigation Blog

Law professors discuss mass tort and class action lawsuits.

Post Frequency: 9.9/day

Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 17:41:19

Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc's Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Roundtable

Posted on November 02, 2010
Vanderbilt Law Review has published its latest En Banc Roundtable on Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. As the Law Review announced on Concurring Opinions: Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc is pleased to present its latest Roundtable on Dukes v. Wal-Mart...

The Curse of Bigness and the Optimal Size of Class Actions

Posted on November 01, 2010
While not strictly speaking about mass torts, I've just posted my contribution to the Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc Roundtable on Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The paper is entitled The Curse of Bigness and the Optimal Size of Class...

BP Oil Spill Update

Posted on October 29, 2010
The American Lawyer's D.M. Levine reports that the Fred Bartlit investigation into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill found that "despite multiple test results showing that a cement-foam mixture meant to seal the bottom of the well was unstable, Halliburton and...

In Defense of the Litigation System

Posted on October 29, 2010
In an article by Jim Snyder on Bloomberg news, Kenneth Feinberg defends the legal system especially for ordinary cases: ?I happen to believe, in the run-of-the- mill, everyday life in America, the legal system works pretty well.? ADL

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Celebration of Richard Nagareda's Life Scheduled at Vanderbilt

Posted on October 25, 2010
Vanderbilt University has scheduled a celebration of Professor Richard Nagareda's life for November 12, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. in the Law School's Flynn Auditorium. The Vanderbilt Hustler provided the following information last Friday: The event will have limited seating...

Supreme Court to Consider Vaccine Case

Posted on October 12, 2010
Barry Meier of the NYTimes reports. The issue is whether the plaintiff can bring products liability suits or whether they must bring the suit only in the vaccine court, created by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. This case...

Verdict Reduced and Lawyer Sanctioned in Fosomax Bellwether Trial

Posted on October 11, 2010
Southern District of NY Judge John F. Keenan reduced the verdict from 8 million to 1.5 million dollars. He also sanctioned the lawyer 2,500 dollars for referencing another Fosomax trial when explicitly told not to do so by the judge....

A Tribute to Richard Nagareda: 1963-2010

Posted on October 10, 2010
I was deeply saddened to learn that Richard Nagareda (Vanderbilt) passed away this past Friday. Although I won't repeat what Howard Erichson has already posted, I wanted to write separately to express what a truly wonderful friend and mentor Richard....

Prof. Richard Nagareda (1963-2010)

Posted on October 10, 2010
We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and colleague Richard Nagareda, who passed away on Friday. Richard was a true leader in the field whose work changed the way we think about mass tort litigation. In his...

On the Recent Passing of Richard Nagareda

Posted on October 10, 2010
I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Richard Nagareda, a remarkable scholar and professor and a titan in the field of mass tort litigation. I first encountered Richard's far-reaching mind when poring over his...

McGovern Likely to be Named Special Master in Oil Spill MDL

Posted on October 09, 2010
Torts Prof Blog reports that Francis McGovern, a professor at Duke Law and accomplished special master, is likely to be appointed the special master in the In re Oil Spill MDL. Here is the opinion they link to: In re...

Supreme Court to Hear Case on the Anti-Injunction Act's Relitigation Exception

Posted on October 07, 2010
The Supreme Court granted cert in yet another class action case (Smith v. Bayer Corp., No. 09-1205) to determine whether a federal judge can enjoin plaintiffs from bringing an economic injury class action in a state court after a federal...

Supreme Court Issues A Stay in a 5th Circuit Tobacco Class Action

Posted on September 27, 2010
As per the Torts Prof Blog, Justice Scalia in his capacity as Circuit Justice for the 5th Circuit has issued a stay in Philip Morris v. Scott, a tobacco class action in Louisiana. This was a case brought on behalf...

Introducing Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Posted on September 27, 2010
Though I realize that, as an employment discrimination class action, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. technically falls outside the realm of mass torts, its class action status has most proceduralists watching with interest to see whether the Supreme Court will...

Alabama Business and Governmental Claimants Criticize BP Payments

Posted on September 27, 2010
See the Wall Street Journal article, Spill Payments Irk Alabama Businesses, by Mike Esterl. In reaction, BP fund administrator Ken Feinberg stated, "In light of the criticism, I am accelerating payments and being more generous." BGS

Plaintiffs' Lawyers Vie for Lead Positions in the BP MDL

Posted on September 27, 2010
See this Wall Street Journal article, Modesty is Out as Lawyers Vie for Spot in BP Suit, by Dionne Searcey. BGS

Anita Bernstein on the Twin Themes of Tort Pedagogy in the 21st Century

Posted on September 22, 2010
Anita Bernstein (Brooklyn) has posted to SSRN her article, Teaching Torts: Rivalry as Pedagogy. I've also been increasingly interested in the rise of global tort practice and have noted the rise in attention to global tort practice over the past...

Brian Fitzpatrick on Whether Class Action Lawyers Make Too Little

Posted on September 22, 2010
Brian Fitzpatrick (Vanderbilt) has posted to SSRN his provocatively titled article, Do Class Action Lawyers Make Too Little? Here's the abstract: Class action lawyers are some of the most frequently derided players in our system of civil litigation. It is...

BP Still Faces Investigations, Lawsuits, and Fines

Posted on September 20, 2010
An article in the Wall Street Journal discusses the remaining BP's remaining challenges stemming from the Gulf Oil Spill -- governmental investigations, civil lawsuits, and fines. The amount of fines imposed may turn on whether BP is found "grossly negligent...

BP Gulf Oil Well "Effectively Dead" According to White House

Posted on September 20, 2010
BGS

Zyprexia Class Action Nixed by 2d Circuit

Posted on September 19, 2010
The Second Circuit has reversed Judge Weinstein's certification of a RICO class action brought by third party payors against Eli Lilly for excessive pricing of the drug Zyprexia. Essentially the class action was felled on the issue of causation requiring...

Toyota Settles Unintended Acceleration Lawsuit

Posted on September 19, 2010
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Toyota has settled, for an undisclosed amount, an unintended-acceleration lawsuit involving the deaths of four persons. The accelerator appeared to have been caught in the floormat. The article notes that Toyota...

Simons on Statistical Knowledge

Posted on September 10, 2010
Kenneth Simons (BU Law) has posted an article entitled "Statistical Knowledge Deconstructed." This piece looks like it will have important implications for mass torts. The piece seems to focus on the criminal context (what level of knowledge is required for...

Nagareda on The Litigation-Arbitration Dichotomy Meets the Class Action

Posted on September 03, 2010
Richard Nagareda (Vanderbilt) has posted his latest piece, The Litigation-Arbitration Dichotomy Meets the Class Action, on SSRN. It's forthcoming in Notre Dame Law Review's annual Federal Courts, Practice, and Procedure issue. It connects discussions taking place in various scholarly circles...

Nagareda on Common Answers for Class Certification

Posted on August 24, 2010
Richard Nagareda (Vanderbilt) has posted his latest piece, Common Answers for Class Certification, on SSRN. The essay is part of a roundtable on Dukes v. Wal-Mart that will be published in En Banc, Vanderbilt Law Review's new on-line counterpart. Here's...

Comparing the 9/11 Fund and the Oil Spill Fund

Posted on August 23, 2010
Michael Cooper has an article in the NYTimes about the two entitled "Spill Fund May Prove as Challenging as 9/11 Payments." Richard Nagareda (Vanderbilt) is quoted as saying: "Although he had a very difficult time placing a dollar value on...

In Memoriam - Benjamin Kaplan

Posted on August 23, 2010
Benjamin Kaplan had a very distinguished career (you can read some highlights here at the HLS press release). He was also the Reporter on the Rules Committee in 1966 when the class action rule was passed. I had the honor...

BP Oil Spill Fund to Go Into Operation on Aug. 23, Receives Claims From All 50 States

Posted on August 17, 2010
Bloomberg Businessweek has a thorough article by Jim Snyder, looking at the issues of compensation and remoteness of claims. So far, BP has paid out $352 million in emergency payments for 114,100 claims, and BP has received a total of...

David Wilkins on Globalization, Technology, and the Legal Profession

Posted on August 13, 2010
At the ABA annual meeting on Monday, Professor David Wilkins (Harvard) delivered a fascinating, far-reaching lecture on legal-profession trends, including globalization and technology. While he only briefly mentioned "tort," the changes he discussed are already appearing in the increase in...

New Orleans Judge Carl J. Barbier to Hear BP Oil Spill Cases

Posted on August 11, 2010
Yesterday the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued its much awaited opinion sending the BP Oil Spill cases to New Orleans Judge Carl J. Barbier. These cases include 77 cases from Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas. As the Panel...

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