Legal Scholars, Judges, and Practitioners Convene on Future of Class Actions, Mass Torts, and MDLs

Class action lawsuits (and other multidistrict litigation cases) have had a significant impact on individuals and industries over the years. This is especially true with high profile cases such as NFL Concussion, Volkswagen Clean Diesel, British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon, Equifax Data Breach, and National Prescription Opiates.  Such cases impact thousands (and in some cases, millions of people) and are highly publicized and well known to the general public.

Lewis & Clark Law School and the Pound Civil Justice Institute are co-sponsoring a two-day, CLE-accredited academic symposium on November 1-2, 2019 to discuss the future of these lawsuits.  The symposium, Class Actions, Mass Torts, and MDLs: The Next 50 Years, will host noted legal scholars from around the country.

Lewis & Clark Law Professor Robert Klonoff, who teaches complex litigation and has worked on a number of leading class actions is the conference chair.  Over thirty professors, attorneys, and judges are slated to speak. Civil procedure law expert and 2018 Higgins visitor Professor Arthur Miller, New York University School of Law, will give an interview-style lunchtime talk on the future of aggregate litigation. Oregon Supreme Court Justice Thomas Balmer will open Saturday’s events with a discussion on aggregate litigation in Oregon.

Click here for the full list of speakers and the full agenda.

“We have been planning this event for almost a year. This symposium brings together many of the leading scholars and practitioners in this important field. I cannot recall another conference that has had more people of this caliber in one setting,” said Professor Klonoff.

Topics discussed at the symposium will include:

•     State Class Actions and Other Aggregation Procedures
•     The Future of Mass Torts
•     Collective Preclusion: Inaccessible Arbitration
•     The Role of Attorneys in MDLs
•     Class Action Objectors/Rule 23 Amendments
•     Cy Pres and Class Action Settlements
•     Deregulation and Private Enforcement
•     Class Actions and Social Justice Reform
•     Interlocutory Appeals

Space is limited and spots are filling up fast. Please register by October 30, 2019. The symposium is free for judges, law clerks, academics, law students, public officials, and Fellows of the Pound Institute.