Mass Torts: An Institutional Evolutionist Perspective

With the benefit of twenty-five years\u27 experience of mass tort litigation,it is time to assess what we have learned. Torts scholars havealready arrived at a consensus as telling as it is rare: Although courtshave demonstrated considerable resourcefulness in struggling withmass torts issues, the overall performance of the litigation system inthis area has been remarkably poor. Some proceduralists have voicedsimilar criticisms; generally speaking, however, procedure scholarsseem to be more confident than torts scholars that reform can be acomplished within the basic tort paradigm. In law as in life, familiarityseems to breed contempt