Mass Tort Deals
Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation

Presenting twenty-two years of multidistrict litigation data, this book exposes a systematic lack of checks and balances in our courts.

Elizabeth Chamblee Burch (Author)

9781108416979, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 May 2019

250 pages, 8 b/w illus. 11 tables
23 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.78 kg

'Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, one of the nation's most respected academic commentators on large scale litigation, has written a unique and striking analysis of the inner workings of these cases, which represent the frontier of American civil litigation. Because they involve pharmaceuticals, body implants, opioids, and an array of consumer products from electronics to talcum powder, they affect millions of Americans. Her portrayal of the conduct of insiders is not pretty. Everyone potentially affected by these cases will benefit from reading this book, as will all policy makers interested in improving how our courts function.' Arthur R. Miller, New York University

Mass-tort lawsuits over products like pelvic and hernia mesh, Roundup, opioids, talcum powder, and hip implants consume a substantial part of the federal civil caseload. But multidistrict litigation, which federal courts use to package these individual tort suits into one proceeding, has not been extensively analyzed. In Mass Tort Deals, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch marshals a wide array of empirical data to suggest that a systematic lack of checks and balances in our courts may benefit everyone but the plaintiffs - the very people who are often unable to stand up for themselves. Rather than faithfully representing them, plaintiffs' lawyers may sell them out in backroom settlements that compensate lawyers handsomely, pay plaintiffs little, and deny them the justice they seek. From diagnosis to reforms, Burch's goal isn't to eliminate these suits; it's to save them. This book is a must read for concerned citizens, policymakers, lawyers, and judges alike.

Introduction
1. When mass torts meet multidistrict litigation
2. Quid-pro-quo arrangements?
3. The rise of repeat players
4. Judges as bulwarks and nudgers
5. When MDL settles into 'ADR'
6. Reforming multidistrict litigation
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Torts / Delicts [LNV], Company law [LNCD], Commercial law [LNCB], Company, commercial & competition law [LNC], Labour economics [KCF], Constitution: government & the state [JPHC]