Private Law Theory

Have consumer class actions run their course? Once, they were praised for increasing access to justice by compensating ‘small claims held by small people’. They were also seen as a form of regulation, because they allowed private enforcement of the law by overcoming the economics of small-stakes individual litigation. This view was so widely accepted that the Supreme Court described these ‘negative value’ suits as ‘the very core of the class action mechanism’. Now, consumer class actions face serious criticism for failing to provide compensation for class members or to achieve effective market regulation … (more)

[Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, Mass Tort Litigation Blog, 14 October]

First posted 2014-10-14 11:56:44