Class Action Dilemmas: Pursuing Public Goals for Private Gain

By Deborah R. Hensler et al.

This book offers a comprehensive and practical review of mass litigation.

592 pages
Rand (2000)

Reviewed by: Eric Howard

Lawyers and policy makers seeking a solid understanding of class action suits, including pros, cons, and recommendations, should obtain Class Action Dilemmas. This book offers a welcome antidote to politicized rhetoric tending toward either the guardians-of-the-downtrodden or the pack-of-sharks variety. Charts, graphs, case histories, and issues large and small receive a dispassionate, factual, and scholarly review.

Items covered in this book (as listed in the table of contents) include:

The historical roots of class actions.

Rule 23.

Is the number of class actions growing?

Private attorneys general.

The temptation to collude.

Public policy dilemmas

Consumer and tort class actions.

The following cases receive detailed analysis:

Roberts v. Bausch,

Pinney v. Great Western,

Graham v. Security Pacific,

Selnick v. Sacramento Cable,

Inman v. Helig-Meyers,

two cases on insurance premium double rounding,

In re Factor VIII or IX,

Atkins v. Harcos,

In re Louisiana-Pacific Inner-Seal Siding, and Cox v. Shell Oil.

The authors have made a major contribution toward public and professional understanding of what class actions truly are and how they work.

Eric Howard is associate editor of Los Angeles Lawyer.