When several plaintiffs file individually a lawsuit against the same tortfeasor, the resolution of the various cases through repeated trials produces positive informational externalities, which benefit to the later plaintiffs (since there exist precedents, jurisprudence...). Thus, the first...

This paper elaborates on a basic model of mass tort litigation, highlighting the existence of positive informational externalities afforded by the discovery process (as a general technology of production of evidences) in order to study when a class action is formed, or when a sequence of...

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the She oil company, through investment and crude oil exploration, benefits socio-economic growth in Nigeria in general and in the Niger Delta of Nigeria in particular. In 1998, the United Nations Special Rapporteur's report on Nigeria accused...

Class action law enforcement is a resource-intensive undertaking, requiring investment of both intellectual capital and financial wherewithal. Building on insights developed in the economic theory of investment under uncertainty, the key theoretical proposition is that class action law...

What standards should the courts use to determine whether or not to certify the class proposed by the plaintiffs? The answer to this question has ramifications for many areas of the law in which class actions have become an oft-used method for pursuing claims against alleged wrongdoers,...

In vivo conversion is a process, often metabolic in nature, wherein one substance, usually a chemical compound, is altered significantly by physiological pathways in the body into one or more different substances. For example, when a patient ingests a therapeutic drug, that drug is often...

This article argues that a significant amount of law is privately made and suggests that privately made law should be subjected to the same kinds of questioning as publicly made law, considering in the end whether privately made law might be considered quot;molecular federalism.quot; Private...

We present, for the first time, a model of recent institutional developments in litigation funding across several European jurisdictions. Recognizing the financing constraints that British cost rules may impose on litigants, these new contractual arrangements combine contingency fees with third...

Victims want to collect damages from injurers. Cases differ with respect to the judgment. Attorneys observe the expected judgment, clients do not. Victims need an attorney to sue; defense attorneys reduce the probability that the plaintiff prevails. Plaintiffs’ attorneys offer contingent fees...