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Federalism And Mass Tort Litigation, Roger H. Trangsrud

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

There is no justification for displacing state tort law by adopting a new federal law of torts in order to facilitate mass tort class actions in federal court. Tort law law has traditionally and properly been the province of state law. The principal problem of mass tort litigation for the federal government is the congestion in the federal district courts caused by the avalanche of state tort claims that have found their way there. This has occurred for reasons not attributable to the federal government. Specifically, state legislatures and state supreme court justices have expanded available claims and remedies under …