CLASS ACTIONS

Catalog description

Though the one-on-one lawsuit remains common, American civil litigation has changed dramatically over the past half century. Some 40% of all civil cases in the U.S. federal court system are subject to a multidistrict litigation consolidation order, and several states (including California) have similar techniques for combining large numbers of cases before a single judge. Class actions have evolved from being a specialist endeavor to bread-and-butter activities for many lawyers. The Digital Age has introduced new discovery challenges and new collaboration possibilities for litigators. These developments profoundly affect in-court treatment of a wide variety of cases, including employment discrimination, securities regulation, mass torts, environmental contamination, antitrust, and others. Because these are cutting-edge topics and developments, the courts usually includes a dose of "breaking news" examples from today's legal press.