Multi-Party Litigation
Litigation: is it an effective response to the malignant behaviour of corporations and governments, or is it a cancer that has spread throughout, or even beyond, the body politic? Does litigation provide an even field where David can battle Goliath, or is it more like the Roman Coliseum, where the lion almost always wins?
Multi-Party Litigation draws upon insights from law and politics to assess the historical development and expansion, political design, and regulatory desirability of multi-party litigation strategies and counterstrategies in Canada, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It describes a complex political battle that is being fought on multiple fronts by competing groups of attorneys, institutions, and interests. More than three decades ago, Marc Galanter suggested that well-resourced defendants can outmanoeuvre the plaintiff class. McIntosh and Cates show that this remains the case, arguing that the effectiveness of a litigation strategy depends both on the ability of the defendants to act aggressively on more than one political front, as well as on the makeup of the plaintiff class.
By exploring both the potential and constraints of litigation, this book provides a comprehensive account of an international issue that will be of interest to students and practitioners of law, politics, and public policy.
This book is a well researched and critical examination of how mass litigation can be used as a tool to shape public policy.
This book is about the politics of lawsuits in which multiple parties are pitted against powerful corporate interests in a battle for money, pride, and prominence. Yet, at the heart of these struggles is the tension between what it means to be an individual and a member of a group, between law and policy. It is a compelling read with great legal stories and a strong analytic structure.
Wayne V. McIntosh is a political science professor, associate chair, and Director of Undergraduate Studies with the Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. Cynthia L. Cates is a political science professor with the Department of Political Science, Towson University, Towson, MD.
Introduction
1 Theoretical, Historical, and Legal Underpinnings
2 Mass Torts and Class Action: An Overview of the Contemporary Landscape
3 The Politics of Tobacco Litigation
4 The Politics of Gun Litigation
5 The Politics of Food Litigation
6 International Developments in the Politics of Litigation
7 Conclusions
Notes
General References
Case References
General Index
Index of Cases
