Recorded Webinar—Litigation or Bankruptcy?: Cutting Through the Hyperbole Over Equitable Mass-Tort Resolution

Webinar

Description:
When product-liability and other tort litigation reaches (to borrow Justice Souter’s phrase) an elephantine mass, defendants often must confront a Hobson’s choice of settlement. What process, and which venue, offers the best avenue for fairly compensating alleged while minimizing transaction costs and fraud continues to be hotly debated. A recent bankruptcy court decision provides a timely platform for our legal and policy expert panelists to discuss judicially managed mass-tort resolution versus use of the bankruptcy process.

Resources:

Scarlet-Lettered Bankruptcy: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4005503

Mass Exploitation: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3929647

The New Mass Torts Bargain: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3649611

Speakers' Biographies

Samir Parikh

Samir is a professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School. His forthcoming Northwestern University Law Review article, "Scarlet-Lettered Bankruptcy: A Public Benefit Proposal for Mass Tort Villains," is the first to propose a public benefit alternative to traditional resolution mechanisms for mass tort debtors. His essay, "Mass Exploitation," was published by the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and identifies new practices in mass restructuring cases like Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson. The essay builds on his recent articles, "The New Mass Torts Bargain" and "Due Process Alignment in Mass Restructurings," which are forthcoming in the Fordham Law Review. Samir was recently invited to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights. Prior to joining Lewis & Clark, Samir practiced financial restructuring at Latham & Watkins and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.

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Sherman Joyce

Sherman (“Tiger”) Joyce is President of the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA), a national coalition of more than 300 nonprofit organizations, professional societies, trade associations and corporations working through in-state coalitions to bring fairness and efficiency to the civil justice system. As President of ATRA, Mr. Joyce is the Association's Chief Executive Officer and a member of its Board of Directors. Mr. Joyce assumed his current position in 1994. Previously, he served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator John C. Danforth until 1984. In 1987, after being admitted to the Virginia Bar, he became minority counsel to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, where he worked on product liability legislation.

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Archis A. Parasharami

Archis, a litigation partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office, is a co-chair of the firm’s Consumer Litigation & Class Actions practice, recently named by Law360 as a class action group of the year. He also is a member of the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate practice. Archis routinely defends businesses in class action litigation in federal and state courts around the country, with a particular focus on strategy issues, multidistrict litigation, and critical motions seeking the dismissal of class actions or opposing class certification.

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