Lester Brickman, 26 William & Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review 243-322 (2001)

"Aggregative" litigation, including class actions and mass consolidation, poses special ethical dangers of exploitation of clients by their lawyers, as well as the risk of a coercive effect on defendants which may feel reluctant to "bet the company" by going to trial. With special attention to asbestos litigation, Prof. Brickman finds that courts have fallen far short of what is needed to curb systemic abuse of mass tort and class action suits, and have tended to insulate attorneys from liability for even egregious misconduct in such cases.