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Reflections On Remedies And Philip Morris V. Williams, Keith N. Hylton Oct 2007

Reflections On Remedies And Philip Morris V. Williams, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This essay is a series of reflections on the implications of Philip Morris for the tort reform movement, a movement for which I share considerable sympathy. First, I offer an ideal approach to punitive damages-based on my amicus brief in Philip Morris-and apply that approach to the case. I make an effort to find a middle ground between the positions of the plaintiff and defendant because, in any case that reaches the Supreme Court, one will find persuasive arguments to be made on both sides. That middle ground involves largely returning to the Supreme Court's pre-Gore treatment of punitive …


Class Actions And Group Litigation In Switzerland, Samuel P. Baumgartner Jan 2007

Class Actions And Group Litigation In Switzerland, Samuel P. Baumgartner

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Class actions have gone global. Foreign parties are no longer a rarity in U.S. class litigation, among other developments. In addition to being named as defendants, foreigners increasingly form a significant part of the group of absent class members. U.S. courts have thus begun to consider some novel issues, including whether due process requires foreigners to be treated as an opt-in rather than an opt-out class; whether a judgment or settlement in the suit is capable of being enforced or recognized as res judicata abroad and thus whether class certification is justified in the first place; and whether a foreign …


The Curious Complications With Back-End Opt-Out Rights, Rhonda Wasserman Jan 2007

The Curious Complications With Back-End Opt-Out Rights, Rhonda Wasserman

Articles

Class action litigation seeks to mediate pressing conflicts between individual autonomy and collective justice; federal supervision and local control; self-interested class counsel and the represented class. These conflicts are exacerbated when a federal court that approves a class action settlement later seeks to enjoin state court litigants from violating its terms. Yet the demand for such injunctions has increased in light of the advent of back-end opt-out rights. In recent years, class members have been afforded back-end, or delayed, opportunities to opt out of a class action once the terms of the settlement are disclosed. These back-end opt-out rights may …


Nsf Fees, James J. White Jan 2007

Nsf Fees, James J. White

Articles

Overdraft fees now make up more than half of banks' earnings on consumer checking accounts. In the past century, overdrafts have gone from the banker's scourge to the banker's profit center as bankers have learned that there is much to be made on these short term loans at breathtaking interest rates. I note that the federal agencies have been complicit in the growth of this form of lending. I propose that the banks and the agencies recognize the reality and attempt to mitigate these rates by encouraging the development of a competitive market.