Law Commons^™

Mass Torts—Maturation Of Law And Practice, Paul D. Rheingold

Pace Law Review

Mass tort litigation has been with us for about fifty years. This is dating the start from the MER/29 litigation in 1964. This field of law and practice has grown year after year, and it shows no sign of abating. At the same time, it can be said that this area of law and procedure has reached a mature stage; the practice is fairly standardized and earlier experiments have either become the model or have been abandoned.

The term “mass tort litigation” (MTL), as used in this article, confines itself to product liability personal injury cases involving similar injuries from …

Doing Good, Doing Well Symposium, Howard M. Erichson

Faculty Scholarship

Rather than focusing on the differences between tort lawyers and activists as they ally with each other, this Article focuses on the motivations and explanations of the tort lawyers themselves. Positioned at the intersection of big-money practice and social change litigation, mass torts provide a useful study in multiple motivations. While financial incentives for plaintiffs' lawyers explain much of what happens in mass torts, policy objectives come into play as well, at least in the lawyers' rhetoric. Despite the obvious difficulty distinguishing reasons from rhetoric and rationalization, it is worth exploring the significance of mixed motives for lawyers who are …

Mass Tort Litigation And Inquisitorial Justice, Howard M. Erichson

Faculty Scholarship

In the past decade, settlement class actions have become increasingly popular in mass tort litigation, having been used successfully in cases such as the Dalkon Shield litigation, the Bjork-Shiley heart valve litigation, and the orthopedic bone screw litigation. Although the Supreme Court's opinion in Amchem has engendered some confusion over the continued viability of mass tort settlement class actions, it appears that such settlements remain a dominant approach to resolving mass tort lawsuits. With increasing frequency, plaintiffs and defendants come to court holding hands, and courts must launch their own vigorous inquiries into the merits of the parties' proffered settlement. …

Mismanagement And Misinterpretation: U.S. Judicial Implementation Of The Warsaw Convention In Air Disaster Litigation, Perry S. Bechky

Perry S. Bechky

This article explores the implementation of the Warsaw Convention in international air disaster lawsuits in U.S. courts, including their approach to mass tort management and treaty interpretation. Specifically, the article evaluates the Warsaw Convention cases according to the rules of treaty interpretation codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and a test for mass tort management developed by Judge Jack Weinstein.