Morris Ratner, UC Hastings College of the Law (US); Catherine Piché, Université de Montréal (Canada); Stefaan Voet, Institute for Procedural Law at the University of Leuven (Belgium); Vicki Waye, Law School, University of South Australia (Australia) Carrie Menkel-Meadow, University of California Irvine Law School (US) (Moderator); and Lynn Baker, University of Texas School of Law (US)

Aggregate Litigation Ethics

This program addresses ethics challenges that commonly arise in aggregate litigation, including class actions. The program defines “ethics” broadly to include all law governing counsel in such proceedings, including, for example, both professional and procedural rules. Representing the perspectives of multiple countries and legal systems, the panelists will explore, among other topics, the management of conflicts at the front end of aggregate litigation, when counsel are appointed to leadership roles by a court, and at the back end, when mass litigation is resolved by settlement or judgment, and claims distributions are made and administered, and cy pres funds are allocated to third party entities. It will also address complications that arise when the “client” is an organization or association, e.g., in European-style class actions.

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