John O’Malley and Andrew Perellis Published in the IDC Monograph Newsletter
“Can You Still Have an Illinois Class Action in a Mass Tort Case?”

John O’Malley and Andrew Perellis’ article, “Can You Still Have an Illinois Class Action in a Mass Tort Case?,” was published in the Second Quarter issue of the IDC Monograph Newsletter. Their article discusses how a class action is the desired way of litigation for many plaintiffs’ attorneys because of the enormous potential in damages. However, they note, “No matter what the claimed damages, a putative class action complaint raises pleading issues not encountered in the single or multiple plaintiff case.” John and Andrew’s article provides a review of the basic class action requirements and the special issues presented by the mass tort class action.

The authors cite recent cases where federal and state decisions found some class certifications to be appropriate and several that were not. The attorneys conclude, “The lesson to be learned is that the case law draws a distinction in mass tort cases between common disaster cases which arise from a single event and product liability actions where no single accident occurs to cause the harm. While the former may be appropriate for class action treatment, the latter almost always is not.”