Book Review: Class Actions in Context: How Culture, Economics and Politics Shape Collective Litigation

• Author: Celeste Poltak
• Pages: 281-288

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BOOK REVIEW:

CLASS ACTIONS IN

CONTEXT: HOW CULTURE, ECONOMICS

AND POLITICS SHAPE COLLECTIVE

LITIGATION

Celeste Poltak*

A. OVERVIEW

The new collection of Class Actions in Context1 is a mu st-read for class ac-

tions lawyers i n North America and beyond. It is a true breat h of fresh air

in its contribution to the impact of social and economic factors lawyers

often forget in the prosecution of their cases. Within its pages, counsel

will f‌ind an in formative rev iew of collective litigation procedure s around

the world from a unique and welcome perspective: what informs the

players, decision makers, and lawyers involved in collective litigation

outside the courtrooms and board rooms?

The text is anchored with in a global framework of representative col-

lective litigation, recognized in more than three dozen national juris-

dictions. The collection of works represents a truly global collaborative

effort of fourteen scholars from various parts of the world who each

undertook qualitative research on group litigation in a specif‌ic country

(ranging from Israel, to Bra zil, to Taiwan, and beyond). While each jur is-

diction of course has different substantive law and refers to this type of

litigation in different manners, at their core, each (notionally) resembles

the North America n idea of a class action. Interestingly, the text conf‌ir ms

that “the class action has now been integrated into civil law regimes in

* BA (Queen’s University), LLB (University of Ca lgary), LLM (London School of

Economics and Politic al Science), class actions partne r, Koskie Min sky LLP.

1 Deborah R Hensler, Chr istopher Hodges, & Ianika Tzan kova, eds, Class Ac-

tions in Context : How Culture, Economics and Politics Shape Collective Litiga-

tion (Cheltenham, UK: E dward Elgar Publishing, 2016) [Hensler, Hodges, &

Tzankova].