In this paper following a law and economics approach, we will consider which model can be applied to analyze class action, intended as a procedural device for aggregating a number of similar claims in a single judicial proceeding. Main examples are environmental and financial class actions with the objective to recover damages affecting dispersed victims. On one hand, many studies about US jurisprudence and about the problems connected with the role of the law firms characterize the legal literature. On the other hand, in Europe the debate is about possible introduction and the problem of harmonization within the judicial systems of different civil law countries (EU the Directive 98/27/EC). Following an economic approach, class action presents many advantages: class action favors the emergence of efficiency in judicial market, by means of economies of scale; it solves the suboptimal demand of lawsuits by increasing the affordability of legal protection and the possibility of indirect representation; it allocates the risk to the subject in the better positions to manage it because of the utility function because plaintiff are normally risk averse while lawyers are more likely to have a higher risk propensity. Following a law & economics approach, we will consider the application of economic models to analyze legal devices.
Which Law and Economics Model? The Case of Class Action
PORRINI, Donatella
2007-01-01
Abstract
In this paper following a law and economics approach, we will consider which model can be applied to analyze class action, intended as a procedural device for aggregating a number of similar claims in a single judicial proceeding. Main examples are environmental and financial class actions with the objective to recover damages affecting dispersed victims. On one hand, many studies about US jurisprudence and about the problems connected with the role of the law firms characterize the legal literature. On the other hand, in Europe the debate is about possible introduction and the problem of harmonization within the judicial systems of different civil law countries (EU the Directive 98/27/EC). Following an economic approach, class action presents many advantages: class action favors the emergence of efficiency in judicial market, by means of economies of scale; it solves the suboptimal demand of lawsuits by increasing the affordability of legal protection and the possibility of indirect representation; it allocates the risk to the subject in the better positions to manage it because of the utility function because plaintiff are normally risk averse while lawyers are more likely to have a higher risk propensity. Following a law & economics approach, we will consider the application of economic models to analyze legal devices.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
