Lawyering for Groups: Civil Rights, Mass Torts, and Everything in Between

Lawyers represent groups of claimants in many areas of law, from civil rights to securities to mass tort and beyond. Group representation -- whether in or out of class actions -- raises a host of ethical, practical, and theoretical questions:

• To whom does the lawyer owe loyalty -- the group or its members?
• How does the lawyer ascertain the clients' objectives and priorities?
• Do the answers depend on the area of law, the nature of the representation, or the procedural posture of the claims?
• Do cause lawyers see these issues differently from other lawyers?

Panel One: Individual and Group Interests in Collective Litigation

• Elizabeth Burch, University of Georgia School of Law
• Brian Fitzpatrick, Vanderbilt Law School
• Moderator/Commenter: Benjamin Zipursky, Fordham Law School

Panel Two: Aggregate Settlements and Collective Representation

• Nancy Moore, Boston University School of Law
• Theodore Rave, NYU School of Law
• Moderator/Commenter: Bruce Green, Fordham Law School

Panel Three: Governance, Political Order, and Aggregate Litigation

• Samuel Issacharoff, NYU School of Law
• Alexandra Lahav, University of Connecticut School of Law 
• Moderator/Commenter: Howard Erichson, Fordham Law School

Panel Four: Lessons from Particular Fields – Bankruptcy, Civil Rights, and Native American Representation

• Troy McKenzie, NYU School of Law
• Elise Boddie, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Kristen Carpenter, University of Colorado Law School
• Eli Wald, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
• Moderator/Commenter: Russell Pearce

ABOUT THE FORDHAM LAW REVIEW

The Fordham Law Review is a scholarly journal serving the legal profession and the public by discussing current legal issues.  Every year, the Law Review, in partnership with the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics, presents an annual symposium on legal ethics.  This year’s event, Lawyering for Groups, features twelve scholars who will present papers and engage in open, moderated discussion of the implications of group representation.  Papers from this symposium will be published by the Fordham Law Review in Spring 2013.  In addition to the annual Ethics Symposium, the Law Review hosts and publishes numerous symposia, including:  The Robert L. Levine Lecture, The Philip D. Reed Program, and two additional events on prominent legal issues.  Approximately seventy-five articles, written by students or submitted by outside authors, are published each year in the Law Review's six volumes.  In the United States, the Fordham Law Review is the sixth most cited law review in other legal journals and the ninth most cited law review in cases, according to a recent study by Washington & Lee University.  Managed by a board of eighteen student editors, the Law Review is a working journal, not merely an honor society.  Still, Law Review membership is considered among the highest scholarly achievements at the Law School.

ABOUT THE STEIN CENTER FOR LAW AND ETHICS

Founded in 1976, Fordham Law School's Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics examines the important role that lawyers play in our society and explores how ethical values inform and improve the legal profession. The Stein Center promotes critical thinking and analysis of legal ethics by hosting and sponsoring colloquia and symposia, promoting the open exchange of ideas among academics and practitioners, and supporting scholarship in the area of legal ethics and professionalism. The Stein Center also captures national attention with programs such as the Stein Scholars Program and the annual Fordham-Stein Prize dinner.

Click here for the event poster.