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Law and Economics

Scott A Moss

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The Second-Class Class Action: How Courts Thwart Wage Rights By Misapplying Class Action Rules, Scott A. Moss, Nantiya Ruan Aug 2011

The Second-Class Class Action: How Courts Thwart Wage Rights By Misapplying Class Action Rules, Scott A. Moss, Nantiya Ruan

Scott A Moss

Courts apply to wage rights cases an aggressive scrutiny that not only disadvantages low-wage workers, but is fundamentally incorrect on the law. Rule 23 class actions automatically cover all potential members if the court grants plaintiffs’ class certification motion. But for certain employment rights cases – mainly wage claims but also age discrimination and gender equal pay claims – 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) allows not class actions but “collective actions” covering just those opting in affirmatively. Courts in collective actions assume a gatekeeper role as they do in Rule 23 class action, disallowing many actions by requiring a certification motion …


Litigation Discovery Cannot Be Optimal But Could Be Better: The Economics Of Improving Discovery Timing In A Digital Age, Scott A. Moss Feb 2008

Litigation Discovery Cannot Be Optimal But Could Be Better: The Economics Of Improving Discovery Timing In A Digital Age, Scott A. Moss

Scott A Moss

Cases are won and lost in discovery, yet discovery draws surprisingly little academic attention. Most scholarship focuses on how much discovery to allow, not how courts decide discovery disputes – which, unlike trials, occur in most cases. Today, much evidence is “e-discovery” – imprudent emails or still-lingering “deleted” files – making costly discovery battles increasingly salient. But the e-discovery rules are not truly new, just a strengthening of old cost/benefit “proportionality” limits on discovery enacted when the spread of photocopiers similarly increased the amount of discovery. Proportionality limits are topic of broad consensus among civil procedure scholars as well as …