This two-hour course deals primarily with class actions in both federal and state courts. It will also cover some aspects of multi-district litigation, consolidation, and the dramatic application of offensive collateral estoppels in the class action context. The class action segments will deal with the basic requirements for certification of both permissive and mandatory class actions, venue selections and strategies, the adequacy of class representatives and class counsel, and the case law interpreting the requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality, adequacy in connection with non-mandatory B3 actions, the key requirements of predominance, and superiority. The course will deal with Constitutional guarantees of a day-in-court and trial by jury as they affect the manageability of class actions, and with the practical aspects of advocacy—including the handling of expert testimony—in a class certification hearing.
November 3, 2011
Jack Ratliff