S. Complex Litigation

This seminar, co-taught by a sitting federal judge and a practioner, will cover procedural
and substantive issues driving complex litigation -- litigation generally involving multiple parties
whose disputes cross multiple jurisdictions. Topics will include in depth discussions of class,
collective and derivative actions, including discovery, class certification, choice of law, personal
jurisdiction, limitations periods, and settlement; aggregation of claims in multiple actions;
coordination and consolidation of actions, including the MDL process; preclusion; management
of parallel private and public (enforcement) actions; and the adjudication of federal claims in
state courts (reverse-Erie). Periodically, there will be guests drawn from the bench and the bar.
Students will be expected to prepare short (3 page) submissions on a periodic basis concerning the
assigned readings, participate in discussions, and produce an end-of-semester
paper of approximately 10 pages in length.

While there are no prerequisites for this seminar, it will build on topics typically addressed in first year civil
procedure. Optional readings will be posted for those who would like to bolster their understanding of these
topics and for those who have not taken first year civil procedure in a US law school.