This course will address significant areas of procedural law and design that go beyond the first- year civil procedure course, with special attention to aggregate and multiparty litigation (e.g., class actions and Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)). Contemporary litigation frequently involves multiple related actions, multiple parties, and multiple claims that may interact in complex ways, and often aspires to reform institutions in addition to seeking remedies for discrete past harms. Moreover, much of American law is enforced via complex private lawsuits -- a phenomenon termed, private enforcement. In nearly every legal area--from civil rights and securities law to environmental law--the average enforcement action takes place in a private civil suit. This course introduces procedural doctrine, theory, norms, and practice related to complex and/or private enforcement litigation, including such topics as the joinder of claims and parties, claim and issue preclusion, class action law, multidistrict litigation and other forms of aggregation, and the turn towards mandatory arbitration. We will spend much of the quarter on class actions and MDLs (which account for LAW 20-LAW 40% of all federal cases!). The course should be of particular interest to aspiring litigators (in any substantive area), future judicial clerks, and public interest lawyers, and complements other curricular offerings in complex and constitutional litigation. By the end of the course, students should be able to identify a range of mechanisms for aggregate litigation in the federal courts; distinguish counsel's responsibilities in class actions as compared to multidistrict litigation; explain the requirements for class certification and settlement approval under Rule LAW 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; articulate and evaluate arguments for and against class certification or settlement approval in a given case or fact pattern; and appreciate the logistical and ethical challenges presented by modern MDLs. Elements used in grading: Exam, class participation.
3 units · Law Honors/Pass/Restrd Cr/Fail
This course will address significant areas of procedural law and design that go beyond the first- year civil procedure course, with special attention to aggregate and multiparty litigation (e.g., class actions and Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)). Contemporary litigation frequently involves multiple related actions, multiple parties, and multiple claims that may interact in complex ways, and often aspires to reform institutions in addition to seeking remedies for discrete past harms. Moreover, much of American law is enforced via complex private lawsuits -- a phenomenon termed, private enforcement. In nearly every legal area--from civil rights and securities law to environmental law--the average enforcement action takes place in a private civil suit. This course introduces procedural doctrine, theory, norms, and practice related to complex and/or private enforcement litigation, including such topics as the joinder of claims and parties, claim and issue preclusion, class action law, multidistrict litigation and other forms of aggregation, and the turn towards mandatory arbitration. We will spend much of the quarter on class actions and MDLs (which account for 20-40% of all federal cases!). The course should be of particular interest to aspiring litigators (in any substantive area), future judicial clerks, and public interest lawyers, and complements other curricular offerings in complex and constitutional litigation. By the end of the course, students should be able to identify a range of mechanisms for aggregate litigation in the federal courts; distinguish counsel's responsibilities in class actions as compared to multidistrict litigation; explain the requirements for class certification and settlement approval under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; articulate and evaluate arguments for and against class certification or settlement approval in a given case or fact pattern; and appreciate the logistical and ethical challenges presented by modern MDLs. Elements used in grading: Exam, class participation.
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.