SYLLABUS
[21-71801]
AGGREGATE LITIGATION
YALE LAW SCHOOL, SPRING 2026

[Fridays 12:10 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.]
Elizabeth Cabraser
[Office: Room 436]
[Office Hours: Friday 9am – noon]
Best contacts:
415 806-2100 (mobile)
ecabraser@lchb.com

CLASS	TOPIC	ASSIGNMENT
January 16, 2026	Course Introduction and Overview: Whether, When, and Why to Aggregate? How, and how well, do the available centralized adjudication procedures (class actions, joinder and consolidation, multidistrict litigation, mass torts) balance the often competing interests of the parties, the courts, and society in access, fairness, efficiency, economy, innovation, predictability, finality, and resolution?	Visit the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation website: www.jpml.uscourts.gov; Uber Technologies, Inc. v. United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, 131 F.4th 661 (9th Cir. 2025); In re Uber Technologies, Inc. Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation, Supplemental Order, 712 F.Supp.3d (1394) (J.P.M.L. 2024); Review Fed. R. Civ. P. 1, 23, 42; Review Fed. R. Civ. P. 23, 42; 28 U.S.C. §1407 Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation (American Law Institute 2010) Sections 1.01-1.04 (black letter). In re Silicone Gel Breast Implants Products Liability Litigation, 793 F.Supp. 1098 (J.P.M.L. 1992)
January 23, 2026	The evolution of contemporary aggregate litigation: judicial recognition of class actions as “an effective and inclusive group remedy” for the non-wealthy, the unsophisticated, the vulnerable, and those with small claims.	“Community of Interest under Federal Equity Rule 38,” 30 Mich. L. Rev. 624 (1932); Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U. S. 32 (1940); Vasquez v. Superior Court, 4 Cal.3d 800 (Cal. 1971); Coburn v. 4-R Corp., 77 F.R.D. 23 (1977); Jenkins v. Raymark, 782 F.2d 468 (5th Cir. 1986); In re Marcos Human Rights Litigation, 910 F. Supp. 1460 (D. Hawai’i 1995); Hilao v. Estate of Marcos,103 F. 3d 767 (9th Cir. 1996); Brown v. Plata, 563 U.S. 493 (2011); In re Holocaust Victim Asset Litigation, 105 F. Supp. 2d 39 ( E.D.N.Y. 2000)
January 30, 2026	Class Action Classics: The Supreme Court on Due Process, Questions with Common Answers, and the Challenges of Classwide Proof and Resolution.	Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797 (1986); Amchem Prods. Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591 (1997); Ortiz v. Fiberboard, 527 U.S. 815 (1999); Wal-Mart v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338 (2011); Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans & Trust Fund, 567 U.S. 905 (2012); Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, 557 U.S. 442 (2016)
February 6, 2026	Evolving and Diverging Judicial Attitudes Toward Aggregation, Commonality, and Access; Limitations on a Last Resort: Requirements for Aggregation in Bankruptcy.	McReynolds v. Merrill Lynch, 672 F.3d 482 (2012) (Judge Posner’s answer to Wal-Mart); AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011); In re LTL Management, LLC, 64 F.4th 84 (Third Circuit 1/30/23)
February 13, 2026	Aggregation in the Cause of Preclusion, Adjudication, or Resolution: The Binding Determination of “Questions With Common Answers” under 23(c)(4)	Parklane Hosiery v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322 (1979); Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 2006); Walker v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 734 F.3d 1279 (11th Cir. 2013); Martin v. Behr Dayton Thermal Products LLC, 896 F.3d 405 (6th Cir. 2018); Lahav, “Phase II: Managing the Remedial Phase in Aggregate Litigation,” forthcoming Cornell L. Rev. papers, ssrn.com
February 20, 2026	The Trump era Revival of 23(b)(2) Class Treatment in Civil Rights and Constitutional Cases; Medical Monitoring as a Classwide Equitable Remedy	Trump v. CASA, 606 U.S. 831 (2025); Thakur v. Trump, 787 F. Supp. 3d 955 (N.D. Cal. 2025); Meyer ex rel. Coplin v. Fluor Corp., 220 S.W. 712 (Mo. 2007)
February 27, 2026	Who Prosecutes Aggregate Litigation, and How Are They Paid?: MDL Leadership Structures and Judicial Selection, The Common Benefit Doctrine	David L. Noll, “What Do MDL Leaders Do?” 124 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 433 (2020); Jaime Dodge, “Wrangling the Beast: Creating New Standards and Best Practices for MDLs,” 99 Judicature 32 (Autumn 2015); In re Roblox Corp. Child Sexually Exploitation and Assault Litigation, (MDL No. 3166), Pretrial Order No. 1 (12/17/25) Looper v. Cook Inc., 20 F.4th 387, (7th Cir. 2021); In re Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation, 81 F.4th 897 (9th Cir. 2023).
March 6, 2026	Let’s Make a (Class or Mass) Deal: Issues and Prescriptions for Aggregate Resolutions	Issacharoff & Witt, “The Inevitability of Aggregate Settlement: An Institutional Account of American Tort Law,” 57 Vand. L. Rev. 1571 (2004); Cabraser & Issacharoff, “The Participatory Class Action,” 92 NYU L. Rev. 846 (2017); Bruce Hay & David Rosenberg, In re Syngenta AG MIR Corn Litigation (10th Cir. 2/28/23); Resnik, “Reorienting the Process Due: Using Jurisdiction to Forge Post-Settlement Relationships Among Litigants, Courts and the Public in Class and Other Aggregate Litigation,” 92 NYU L. Rev. 1017 (2017); “And Now a Word from the Panel: Doing the MDL Math,” Law360, March 30, 2022
March 13, 2026	Class Action Settlements After Amchem/Ortiz, Part I	Coffee, “Class Action Accountability: Reconciling Exit, Voice and Loyalty in Representative Litigation,” 100 Colum. L. Rev. 370 (March 2000); In re Diet Drugs, 282 F.3d 220 (3d Cir. 2002); In re Deepwater Horizon, 739 F.3D 790 (5th Cir. 2014); and In re Deepwater Horizon, 753 F.3d 509 (5th Cir 2014)
March 27, 2026	Class Action Settlements After Amchem/Ortiz, Part II: Emerging Issues and a New Settlement Rule	Advisory Committee Notes, 2018 amendments to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e); In re Volkswagen “Clean Diesels” Marketing Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, 895 F.3d 597 (9th Cir. 2018); In re Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litigation, 926 F.3d 539 (9th Cir. 2019) (en banc); Kim v. Allison (Tinder, Inc.), 87 F.4th 994 (9th Cir. 2023)
April 3, 2026	Naming and Claiming: Current Issues in Aggregate Litigation: Ascertainability and Standing	TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez,141 S.Ct. 2190 (2021); In re Google Street View Electronic Communication Litigation (MDL 2184), 21 F.4th 1102 (9th Cir. 2021), cert. denied sub nom. Lowery v. Joffe, 143 S.Ct. 107 (2022); Chavez v. Plan Benefit Services, 77 F.4th 370 (5th Cir. 2023)
April 10, 2026	Class Certification and Settlement in the Age of AI	Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, 791 F. Supp.3d 1036 (N.D. Cal. 2025); Official Anthropic Class Settlement website: anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
April 17, 2026	Everything you wanted to know about Aggregate Litigation But forgot to Ask: Review and Reflection	Readings TBD