The autumn conference season has opened... Here's an interesting conference on class actions and mass litigation. The topic is a hot item in European consumer law, seeing for example the recent consultation on collective redress on which we posted earlier on this blog.
The 5th Annual Conference on the Globalization of Class Actions and Mass Litigation
Despite continuing controversy and strong opposition from some sectors, class action procedures and mass litigation continue to proliferate around the world. What challenges do class and mass actions present to judges, litigators, business enterprises, and civil society?
On December 8-9 2011 judges, practitioners and scholars will gather together at Raad van State in The Hague, the Netherlands, to share information, experiences and recommendations on these issues. The conference is co-organized by Deborah Hensler (Stanford Law School), Christopher Hodges (Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies and Erasmus University) and Ianika Tzankova (Tilburg University). Key speakers and panelists are, among others, Mr. Kenneth Feinberg (Administrator, Gulf Coast Claims Facility and Former Special Master 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund), Prof. Camille Cameron (University of Melbourne), The Honorable Vaughn Walker (Chief Judge (ret.), US), The Honorable Lee Rosenthal (U.S. District Court, S.D. Texas), Prof. Axel Halfmeier (Frankfurt School of Finance and Management), The Honorable Mr. Justice David Steel (High Court of Justice, England & Wales), The Honorable Ivan Verougstraete (former President of the Belgian Court of Cassation and Visiting Professor of Law Georgetown University), The Honorable Frank Iacobucci (Chief Justice (ret.), Canada), and Prof. Francis McGovern (Duke University Law School).
Besides the discussion sessions, the preliminary results of the international research project - led by Hensler, Hodges, and Tzankova - in which cases litigated in class action and group proceedings are compared will be available at the 2011 conference. The conference is also interesting for members of the judiciary. More information on the conference and the registration can be found at: http://www.tilburguniversity.edu/research/institutes-and-research-groups/tisco/events/classactions/
