World Class Actions: A Guide to Group and Representative Actions around the Globe

by Paul G. Karlsgodt (Editor)

Overview

Class action and other group litigation procedures are increasingly being adopted in jurisdictions throughout the world, as more countries deal with the realities of increased globalization and access to information. As a result, attorneys and their clients face the ever-expanding prospect of a class or group action outside their home jurisdictions.

World Class Actions: A Guide to Group and Representative Actions around the Globe is a guide for attorneys and their clients on the procedures available for class, group, and representative actions throughout the world. It helps lawyers navigate and develop strategies for litigation and risk management in the course of doing business abroad, or even in doing business locally in a way that impacts interests abroad.

Part I of the book provides a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction survey of the class action, group, collective, derivative, and other representative action procedures available across the globe. Each chapter is written from a local perspective, by an attorney familiar with the laws, best practices, legal climate, and culture of the jurisdiction.

Part II provides guidance from the perspective of international attorneys practicing in foreign jurisdictions and the art of counseling and representing clients in international litigation. It also covers a variety of topics related to transnational, multi-jurisdictional, and class or collective actions that involve international issues and interests.

Each chapter offers practice tips and cultural insights helpful to an attorney or litigant facing a dispute in a particular part of the world. Many of the chapters introduce key books, treatises, articles, or other reference materials to foster further research. Its focus on international class and group litigation law from a practitioner's perspective makes World Class Actions an essential guide for the lawyer or client.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199730247
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/31/2012
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	854
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Paul G. Karlsgodt is a partner in the Denver office of the U.S. law firm Baker & Hostetler LLP and editor and primary contributor to the legal blog www.classactionblawg.com. Mr. Karlsgodt's law practice focuses on class action defense and other complex commercial litigation. He founded and served as the first Chair of the Class Actions, Derivative Suits and Mass Torts Subsection of the Litigation Section of the Colorado Bar Association and is a frequent speaker and author on class action-related topics. Mr. Karlsgodt has also represented clients pro bono in civil rights cases, including a prisoner's rights class action.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I - Multi-party and Representative Action Systems Around the World

Chapter 1 The United States
Chapter 2 Canada
Chapter 3 Latin America
Chapter 4 Representative Actions and Proposed Reforms in the European Union
Chapter 5 United Kingdom
Chapter 6 Denmark
Chapter 7 Sweden
Chapter 8 Finland
Chapter 9 Norway
Chapter 10 Germany
Chapter 11 Austria
Chapter 12 Switzerland
Chapter 13 Belgium
Chapter 14 The Netherlands
Chapter 15 Spain
Chapter 16 Portugal
Chapter 17 France
Chapter 18 Italy
Chapter 19 Russia
Chapter 20 Israel
Chapter 21 South Africa
Chapter 22 Australia
Chapter 23 The Asia-Pacific Region
Chapter 24 Collective Actions in China
Chapter 25 India

Part II - Selected Topics in International and Transnational Class Action Law 770

Chapter 26 Prosecuting Class Actions and Group Litigation
Chapter 27 Multijurisdictional and Transnational Class Litigation: Lawsuits Heard 'Round the World' 888
Chapter 28 International Class Action Notice
Chapter 29 International Class Actions Under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act 992
Chapter 30 International Class Arbitration 1011
Chapter 31 Representing Clients in Litigation Abroad

Table of Cases

Index

Editorial Reviews

"As technology effectively shrinks both the physical and legal worlds, lawyers must increasingly view disputes from a global perspective. In World Class Actions, Paul Karlsgodt and his expert contributors provide a fine overview of class action litigation around the world. This book identifies a gap in the literature and fills it nicely."
—Mark Herrmann
Vice President and Chief Counsel - Litigation, Aon
Author, The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law

"Industrialization, globalization and the explosive evolution of mass and social media has changed the business world into a global village. With this comes the risk of global harm and global litigation. World Class Actions offers lawyers and their clients an effective, reliable road map through the complicated and constantly changing terrain of global class-action litigation."
—Prof. Dr. Ianika N. Tzankova
Professor of Comparative Mass Litigation, Tilburg University
Attorney-at-law, NautaDutilh N.V.

"World Class Actions is a comprehensive and practical look at everything a class-action litigator needs to know about mass litigation in other countries. In an increasingly globalized world, this is a book no international lawyer should be without."
—Andrew J. Trask, McGuireWoods London LLP, co-author of The Class Action Playbook

"Provides a helpful introduction to the incredibly complex and varied topic of collective actions around the world. It will serve as a valuable resource for lawyers and other professionals as they attempt to navigate and develop strategies for litigation and risk management while doing business abroad. This book will be particularly valuable for those whose jobs require them to understand and manage the litigation risks their clients must attempt to manage in their operations around the world. I highly recommend this book."
—Kevin M. LaCroix, The D&O Diary

"For practitioners whose clients have business interests overseas, this book could prove invaluable in helping navigate the shoals of unfamiliar legal systems."
—D. Matt Allen, Classified: Carlton Fields' Class Action Blog

From the Publisher