Nagareda's Mass Torts in a World of Settlement Now Available

"In this ambitious and insightful book, Nagareda addresses a rich array of topics in mass tort litigation. He offers a powerful argument that mass torts present a problem of governance that should be understood less as ordinary tort litigation and more as an exercise in administrative rulemaking. Nagareda’s command of the material and his ability to pull together diverse stories into a coherent account of the problem make this a must-read for those who wish to understand the complex world of mass tort litigation."—Howard M. Erichson, Professor of Law, Seton Hall Professor of Law and Co-editor of Mass Tort Litigation Blog

Mass Torts in a World of Settlement
by Richard A. Nagareda

List Price: $49.00
Hardcover: 379 pages
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (October 1, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0226567605
ISBN-13: 978-0226567600

Book Description: The traditional definition of torts involves bizarre, idiosyncratic events where a single plaintiff with a physical impairment sues the specific defendant he believes to have wrongfully caused that malady. Yet public attention has focused increasingly on mass personal-injury lawsuits over asbestos, cigarettes, guns, the diet drug fen-phen, breast implants, and, most recently, Vioxx. Richard A. Nagareda’s Mass Torts in a World of Settlement is the first attempt to analyze the lawyer’s role in this world of high-stakes, multibillion-dollar litigation.

These mass settlements, Nagareda argues, have transformed the legal system so acutely that rival teams of lawyers operate as sophisticated governing powers rather than litigators. His controversial solution is the replacement of the existing tort system with a private administrative framework to address both current and future claims. This book is a must-read for concerned citizens, policymakers, lawyers, investors, and executives grappling with the changing face of mass torts.