This course examines the variety of procedures used to develop and manage large-scale litigation within and outside the U.S., and the policy controversies surrounding them. Topics include class actions, multidistrict litigation, pretrial procedure, special trial and evidentiary issues, judicial case management, issues of federalism, problems of absent and future claimants, settlement issues, alternate dispute resolution techniques within litigation, and proposals for law reform. Much of the course considers these topics as they play out in current cases, with guest lectures by judges, lawyers and others.
Early in the semester, each student chooses a recent or ongoing complex litigation to investigate. (A list of candidate litigations is provided, but students are free to choose any complex litigation that interests them.) During the semester, students conduct research on the litigation including, where possible, contacting key participants for information and perspective. This research serves as the basis for in-class discussion, focusing on different aspects of the litigation as the semester progresses. In the final weeks of the semester, students present their research.