Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
Class counsel are more frequently filing product-based class actions that, whether successful or not, offer few practical benefits to real consumers or class members. These no-benefit class actions cause the unnecessary expense of the courts’ time and resources, and they often fail to provide actual value to class members while still producing substantial attorneys’ fees. This article explores why strategic vagueness in plaintiffs’ filings and a lack of vigorous analysis by the courts have allowed no-benefit class actions to unnecessarily consume court resources. The article concludes by offering suggestions for how courts can alleviate some of this pressure, primarily by requiring judges to follow and enforce Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 23(b)(3) as the rule was written and intended.

Goldberg, Philip S and Trask, Andrew J, No-Injury and Piggyback Class Actions: When Product-Defect Class Actions Do Not Benefit Consumers, University of Massachusetts Law Review, volume 19, issue 2, article 1.