Crampton, Kaplan & Shelley Update Chapter on International Class Action Developments for PLI Product Liability Treatise

Partners William Crampton, Harvey Kaplan and Marc Shelley have updated Chapter 7, “Class Action Developments Overseas,” in the Practicing Law Institute’s treatise Product Liability Litigation: Current Law, Strategies and Best Practices. Observing that the class action device is becoming increasingly popular in many countries, the authors eschew providing a comprehensive review of class action laws outside the United States, opting instead to “examine common themes and trends observed in class action law and debates around the world.” They highlight developments in the most active jurisdictions and discuss the intersection of new class action rules with product liability claims. The article notes how different countries address the types of lawsuits that may be brought as class actions, which litigants have standing to pursue them, whether the rules follow an opt-in or opt-out model, and how certification procedures are handled. To read the chapter, please click here.