Stier, Byron; Tzankova, Ianika --- "The culture of collective litigation: A comparative analysis" [2016] ELECD 744; in Hensler, R. Deborah; Hodges, Christopher; Tzankova, Ianika (eds), "Class Actions in Context" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 23

Book Title: Class Actions in Context

Editor(s): Hensler, R. Deborah; Hodges, Christopher; Tzankova, Ianika

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783470433

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: The culture of collective litigation: A comparative analysis

Author(s): Stier, Byron; Tzankova, Ianika

Number of pages: 28

Abstract/Description:

Social scientists define culture differently but generally the term refers to norms, customs and practices of a particular community at a particular point in time. The relationship of culture to collective litigation may be considered from various perspectives. Different norms regarding the proper role of litigation in a society, for example, may lead to different rules about who should pay, and how much, for bringing a dispute to court. Different norms about the proper role of government relative to private parties, including corporations, may lead to different views on whether private litigation should strictly serve compensatory purposes—‘redress’—or should supplement public enforcement activities. Legal financing rules and perspectives on the role of public versus private enforcement may in turn explain rules facilitating or inhibiting collective litigation. (Parts III and IV of this book deal with these aspects of collective litigation.) A cultural analyst might investigate the ways in which national legal culture has shaped the adoption or design of collective litigation procedures. This chapter takes a different approach to culture. Instead of discussing national legal cultures or analyzing the cultural differences between jurisdictions in relation to collective litigation, we examine the culture of collective litigation itself as we see it emerging from case studies from four jurisdictions: Brazil, Taiwan, the United States (US) and the Netherlands. Despite cultural differences between these and other countries discussed later in this book, similar behavior patterns and acts emerge with regard to collective litigation.