Public and Private Law Perspectives: Transcript of Professor Howard Erichson

Abstract:     
In this short presentation at a symposium on asbestos litigation, I suggest that the drive for global peace - fully comprehensive resolutions in mass tort litigation - leads some participants and commentators to undervalue claimant control over settlement decisions. In the wake of the rejection of asbestos settlement class actions in Amchem and Ortiz, mass tort litigators have pushed the ethical envelope in their efforts to achieve peace without class certification. In particular, I suggest that the mandatory recommendation and attorney withdrawal provisions of the Vioxx settlement were overreactions to the problems of the fen-phen settlement class action.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 5

Keywords: asbestos, mass tort, litigation, settlement, Amchem, Vioxx, fen-phen

Accepted Paper Series