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Where's the Party: Do Class Action Plaintiffs Really Prefer State Courts?

2009; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.2139/ssrn.1334923

1556-5068

Neil J. Marchand,

Legal Systems and Judicial Processes

Scholars and interest groups have discussed litigants' behavior in the class action context. This paper uses empirical data to determine whether class action plaintiffs actually prefer to litigate their suits in state courts. Despite well-reasoned conjectures on the subject, to date there is a paucity of empirical data on class action litigation, especially at the state court level. This scarcity has thwarted analysis of the likelihood of class certification in the state courts, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005's (CAFA) total impact on the judiciary, and the predictability of class action litigation. This study aims to start filling the void in empirical analysis of class action suits by focusing on one representative state: Michigan. The goal of this empirical analysis is to help inform the larger debates over class action litigation.