Howard M. Erichson

Professor Erichson teaches Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation, Professional Responsibility, and Torts. His research explores the U.S. litigation process, particularly the problem of resolving mass disputes.  He is the past chair of the Civil Procedure Section of the Association of American Law Schools and was an Advisor to the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation. He is co-author of the casebook Civil Procedure (Aspen 2021), co-author of Complex Litigation: Cases & Materials on Advanced Civil Procedure (West 7th ed. 2021), and author of the book Inside Civil Procedure (3d ed. 2017). His articles have appeared in the Cornell Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Michigan Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and many other leading publications. Professor Erichson graduated from Harvard University and from New York University School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the New Jersey Supreme Court and for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and he practiced as a litigator with Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton in New York City. In 1995, he joined the faculty of Seton Hall Law School, where he was elected Professor of the Year and was named the John J. Gibbons Professor of Law. He joined the Fordham Law School faculty as Professor of Law in 2008, and was elected Teacher of the Year in 2012 and in 2023.

Academic Appointments

• Fordham University School of Law, New York, NY.
  • Professor of Law, 2008-present; Visiting Prof., 2007-08.
  • Courses: Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation, Professional Responsibility, Torts
  • Teacher of the Year, 2012 and 2023
• Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, NJ.
  • John J. Gibbons Professor of Law, 2007-08; Professor, 2001-07; Assoc. Prof., 1998-2001; Ass’t Prof., 1995-98.
  • Courses: Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation, Professional Responsibility, Torts
  • Professor of the Year, 1998; Professor of the Year Nominee, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2007; Dean’s Fellow, 2004-07; University Faculty Excellence Award, 1998; University Teaching Fellow, 1998-99

Visiting Academic Appointments

• Chuo Law School, Tokyo, Japan.  Visiting Professor, April 2010.
  • Lectures on U.S. Litigation Process
• Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, TN.  Visiting Professor, Short Course.
  • Ethics in Multiparty Litigation (Spring 2007)
  • Problems in Resolving Mass Litigation (Fall 2005)
• Columbia Law School, New York, NY.  Fensterstock Visiting Professor, Fall 2002.
  • Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation
• New York University School of Law, New York, NY. Visiting Scholar, 2001-02.

Other Employment

• Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, New York, NY.  Associate, 1992-95.
• Chief Judge James L. Oakes, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. Law Clerk, 1991-92.
• Justice Stewart G. Pollock, Supreme Court of New Jersey.  Law Clerk, 1990-91.
• The Green Vale School, Glen Head, NY.  Humanities Teacher, 1985-87.

Judicial, Professional, and Community Appointments

• American Law Institute, Elected Member, 2005-present
• Adviser, Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation, 2004-10
• Members Consultative Group, Restatement (Third) of Torts: Physical Harm, 2006-10
• Association of American Law Schools, Civil Procedure Section
• Chair, 2004; Chair-Elect, 2003; Secretary, 2002; Executive Committee, 2002-05
• Congregation Shomrei Emunah, President, 2010-12
• New Jersey District V(A) Ethics Committee, Member, 2000-04
• New Jersey Supreme Court Civil Practice Committee, Member, 2000-08
• Chair, Subcommittee on Protective Orders, 2002-06
• Third Circuit Task Force on Selection of Class Counsel, Member, 2001-02

Bar Admissions

• New Jersey, 1990
• New York, 1991
• United States District Court:
  • District of New Jersey, 1990
  • Southern District of New York, 1993
  • Eastern District of New York, 1993
  • Southern District of Texas, 1994

Education

• JD, New York University School of Law, 1990
  • Editor-in-Chief, NYU Law Review; Order of the Coif; Goodman Memorial Prize, Weinfeld Prize, Rubin Prize
• AB, Harvard University, Government, 1985

Representative Publications

Books

• Wright & Miller et al., Federal Practice & Procedure, vols. 6 & 7 updates (Thomson Reuters 2023)
• Complex Litigation: Cases and Materials on Advanced Civil Procedure, 7th ed. (West Academic 2021) (with R. Marcus, E. Sherman, & A. Bradt)
• Civil Procedure (Aspen Casebook Series 1st ed. 2021) (with J. Maria Glover) 
• Inside Civil Procedure: What Matters and Why 3d ed. (Aspen 2017)
• Complex Litigation: Cases and Materials on Advanced Civil Procedure, 6th ed. (West 2015) (with R. Marcus & E. Sherman)
• Inside Civil Procedure: What Matters and Why, 2nd ed. (Aspen 2012)
• Complex Litigation: Cases & Materials on Advanced Civil Procedure, 5th ed. (West 2010) (with R. Marcus & E. Sherman)
• Inside Civil Procedure: What Matters and Why (Aspen 2012)
• Mass Tort Litigation Manual, American College of Trial Lawyers (LexisNexis/Matthew Bender 2006) (H. Erichson & A. Fickler, Co-Reporters)

Articles

• Victim Civil Litigation and the Elusive Goal of Corporate Accountability, 72 DePaul L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2023)
• Class Action Settlements as Contracts?, 102 North Carolina L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2023)
• The Dark Side of Consensus and Creativity: What Mediators of Mass Disputes Need to Know About Agency Risks, 88 Fordham L. Rev. 2155 (2020)
• What is the Difference Between a Conclusion and a Fact?, 41 Cardozo L. Rev. 899 (2020) 
• MDL and the Allure of Sidestepping Litigation, 53 Georgia L. Rev. 1287 (2019) 
• Searching for Salvageable Ideas in FICALA, 87 Fordham L. Rev. 19 (2018) 
• Aggregation as Disempowerment: Red Flags in Class Action Settlements, 92 Notre Dame L. Rev. 859 (2016)
• Judge Jack Weinstein and the Allure of Antiproceduralism, 64 DePaul L. Rev. 393 (2015)
• The Problem of Settlement Class Actions, 82 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 951 (2014)
• Consent versus Closure, 96 Cornell L. Rev. 265 (2011) (with B. Zipursky)
• Uncertainty and the Advantage of Collective Settlement, 60 DePaul L. Rev. 627 (2011)
• The Trouble with All-or-Nothing Settlements, 58 Kansas L. Rev. 979 (2010)
• CAFA’s Impact on Class Action Lawyers, 156 U. Penn. L. Rev. 1593 (2008)
• Court-Ordered Confidentiality in Discovery, 81 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 357 (2006)
• Mississippi Class Actions and the Inevitability of Mass Aggregate Litigation, 24 Miss. Coll. L. Rev. 285 (2005)
• A Typology of Aggregate Settlements, 80 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1769 (2005)
• Doing Good, Doing Well, 57 Vand. L. Rev. 2087 (2004)
• Beyond the Class Action: Lawyer Loyalty and Client Autonomy in Non-Class Collective Representation, 2003 U. Chi. Legal F. 519
• The End of the Defendant Advantage in Tobacco Litigation, 26 Wm. & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol'y Rev. 123 (2001)
• Informal Aggregation: Procedural and Ethical Implications of Coordination among Counsel in Related Lawsuits, 50 Duke L.J. 381 (2000)
• Coattail Class Actions: Reflections on Microsoft, Tobacco, and the Mixing of Public and Private Lawyering in Mass Litigation, 34 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1 (2000)
• Mass Tort Litigation and Inquisitorial Justice, 87 Georgetown L.J. 1983 (1999)
• Of Horror Stories and Happy Endings: The Rise and Fall of Preclusion-Based Compulsory Party Joinder under the New Jersey Entire Controversy Doctrine, 9 Seton Hall Const. L.J. 757 (1999)
• Interjurisdictional Preclusion, 96 Michigan L. Rev. 945 (1998)
• Modern Mass Tort Litigation, Prior-Action Depositions and Practice-Sensitive Procedure, 63 Fordham L. Rev. 989 (1995) (with M. Lowenthal)
• Note, Nationwide Personal Jurisdiction in all Federal Question Cases: A New Rule 4, 64 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1117 (1989)

Book Chapter

• Private Lawyers, Public Lawsuits: Plaintiffs’ Attorneys in Municipal Gun Litigation, in T. Lytton, ed., Suing the Gun Industry: A Battle at the Crossroads of Gun Control and Mass Torts (U. of Michigan Press 2005)

Amicus Brief

• Taylor v. Sturgell, U.S. Supreme Court 07-371, Brief of Civil Procedure and Complex Litigation Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner (Feb. 26, 2008) (with D. Shapiro & J. Leubsdorf)

Shorter Publications

• The Dark Side of Consensus and Creativity: What Mediators of Mass Disputes Need to Know About Agency Risks, 88 Fordham L. Rev. 2155 (2020)  
• Settlement in the Absence of Anticipated Adjudication, 85 Ford. L. Rev. 2017 (2017)
• How to Exaggerate the Size of Your Class Action Settlement, Cal. Daily Journal (Nov. 8, 2017)
• What MDL and Class Actions Have in Common: A Response to Burch, Monopolies in Multidistrict Litigation, 70 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 29 (2017)
• New Republican Bill Would Gut Class Actions, Not Improve Them, TheHill.com (Feb. 20, 2017)
• Beware the Settlement Class Action, Cal. Daily Journal (Nov. 24, 2014)
• Why the Supreme Court Should Give the Easy Answer to an Easy Question: A Response to Professors Childress, Neuborne, Sherry, & Silberman, 66 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 179 (2013)
• The Role of the Judge in Non-Class Settlements, 90 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1015 (2013)
• The Chevron-Ecuador Dispute, Forum Non Conveniens, and the Problem of Ex Ante Inadequacy, 1 Stan. J. Complex Litig. 417 (2013)
• The Home-State Test for General Personal Jurisdiction, 66 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 81 (2013)
• Foreword: Lawyering for Groups, 81 Fordham L. Rev. 3039 (2013) (with B. Zipursky)
• Debate, The Future of Mass Torts, 159 U. Penn. L. Rev. PENNumbra 231 (2011) (with S. Campos)
• Foreword: Civil Procedure and the Legal Profession, 79 Fordham L. Rev. 1827 (2011)
• Mass and Complex Litigation in the United States, 44 Hikakuho Zasshi: Journal of Comparative Law 185 (2010) (in Japanese, translated by Hisaei Ito)
• Foreword: Reflections on the Adjudication-Settlement Divide, 78 Fordham L. Rev. 1117 (2009)
• Public and Private Law Perspectives: Transcript of Professor Howard Erichson, 37 Sw. L. Rev. 665 (2008)
• Comments on a Class Action Rule for Mississippi, 24 Miss. Coll. L. Rev. 309 (2005)
• Getting Students Onboard, in S. Friedland & G. Hess, eds., Teaching the Law School Curriculum (Carolina Academic Press 2004)
• Foreword: Multidistrict Litigation and Aggregation Alternatives, 31 Seton Hall L. Rev. 877 (2001)
• A Tribute to Justice Stewart G. Pollock, 30 Seton Hall L. Rev. 430 (2000)
• A Hero of Moderate Proportions, 74 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1217 (1999)
• Taking a Closer Look: Justices Reaffirm Need for Judicial Scrutiny of Mass Tort Settlement Class Actions, Legal Times (Aug. 16, 1999)
• Driving Full Circle: How New Jersey Navigated the Entire Controversy Doctrine, 156 N.J.L.J. 221 (April 19, 1999)
• Strengthening Ethics in a Million-Lawyer World, Nat’l L.J. (Aug. 3, 1998), at A24
• Enough is Enough: Solving the Problem of Punitive Overkill in Multiple-Plaintiff Litigation, 152 N.J.L.J. 246 (April 20, 1998)
• Dealing with Issue Preclusion in Complex Cases, 148 N.J.L.J. 204 (April 21, 1997)
• Cost-Conscious Alternatives to Massive United States Discovery, 23 Kokusai Shōji Hōmu: Journal of the Japanese Inst. of Int’l Bus. L. 1225 (1995) (with G. Grumbach) (in Japanese)

• Civil Procedure
• Complex Litigation
• Legal Process
• Professional Responsibility
• Torts