
Consumer Protection Settlements: Theory and Policy Issues
In a new paper, I compare private and public class action settlements. I find a dearth of theoretical law and economics literature on public class actions, so I use the private class actions literature and a pivotal case study to highlight key issues and suggest areas for future research.
Class Actions Are Different. Class actions are quite different from other lawsuits. Frequently an attorney initiates the action rather than a plaintiff, and there is no formal relationship with members of the class. There are clear economies of scale in class actions, and the plaintiffs’ attorneys perform a socially useful … Read more