In class actions, attorneys effectively hire clients rather than act as their agent. Lawyer-financed, lawyer-controlled, and lawyer-settled, this entrepreneurial litigation invites lawyers to act in their own interest. John Coffee’s goal is to save class action, not discard it, and to make private enforcement of law more democratically accountable.

This book first addresses substantive issues, beginning with the changing role of business torts in antitrust litigation and continuing with the extent to which antitrust concepts have been invoked in business tort litigation (focusing on the competitive privilege and the Noerr-Pennington defense). The next chapter surveys the field of unfair competition, followed by an examination of the business torts of commercial disparagement and defamation. Subsequent chapters address interference torts, the common law and statutory torts of fraud and negligent misrepresentation, the field of misappropriation of trade secrets, and recent developments in the area of punitive damages.

Presenting twenty-two years of multidistrict litigation data, this book exposes a systematic lack of checks and balances in our courts.

A less-expensive grayscale paperback version is available. Search for ISBN 9781680923018. Business Law I Essentials is a brief introductory textbook designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of courses on Business Law or the Legal Environment of Business. The concepts are presented in a streamlined manner, and cover the key concepts necessary to establish a strong foundation in the subject. The textbook follows a traditional approach to the study of business law. Each chapter contains learning objectives, explanatory narrative and concepts, references for further reading, and end-of-chapter questions. Business Law I Essentials may need to be supplemented with additional content, cases, or related materials, and is offered as a foundational resource that focuses on the baseline concepts, issues, and approaches.

A useful guide for attorneys of all levels of experience to most phases of mass tort cases.

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.

This new addition to be the Model Jury Instruction series provides clear and balanced instructions for presentation to juries in business torts litigation. The book also includes a CD-ROM of the jury instructions to allow for easy adaptation to particular cases or points.