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The Curse Of Bigness And The Optimal Size Of Class Actions, Alexandra Lahav
The Curse Of Bigness And The Optimal Size Of Class Actions, Alexandra Lahav
Alexandra D. Lahav
How big is too big when it comes to class actions? This short essay, written for the Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc roundtable on Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. examines that question. Size in itself should not be a barrier to certification, but courts may rightly be concerned with variation within the class. Variation causes manageability problems, but in some cases (like Dukes) variation can be managed within the class context by judicious use of statistical methods. I also demonstrate why the related argument that this class ought not be certified because it is too big and Wal-Mart will be …
Of Dinosaurs And Birds: The Second Circuit’S “Forum Rule” As An Unwarranted Attack On Plaintiffs’ Employment Discrimination Class Action Attorneys’ Fee Petitions, Patrick F. Madden, Shanon J. Carson
Of Dinosaurs And Birds: The Second Circuit’S “Forum Rule” As An Unwarranted Attack On Plaintiffs’ Employment Discrimination Class Action Attorneys’ Fee Petitions, Patrick F. Madden, Shanon J. Carson
Patrick F. Madden
No abstract provided.
Procedural Adequacy, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
Procedural Adequacy, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
This short piece responds to Jay Tidmarsh’s article, Rethinking Adequacy of Representation, 87 Texas Law Review 1137 (2009). I explore Professor Tidmarsh’s proposed “do no harm” approach to adequate representation in class actions from a procedural legitimacy perspective. I begin by considering the assumption underlying his alternative, namely that in any given class action both attorneys and class representatives tend to act as self-interested homo economicus and we must therefore tailor the adequacy requirement to curb self-interest only in so far as it makes class members worse off than they would be with individual litigation. Adopting the “do no harm” …