Brent M. Rosenthal, Misty A. Farris & Amanda R. Tyler, Toxic Torts And Mass Torts, 59 S.M.U. L. Rev. 1579 (Summer 2006).
This article, out of SMU’s Annual Survey of Texas Law, addresses recent decisions from Texas state courts, developments out of the Texas legislature, and any developments in federal legislation that will affect mass tort and toxic tort litigation. The authors touch on CAFA briefly in the article’s “Federal Legislation” section, introducing it as the “one piece of legislation that Congress did manage to enact.” (Perhaps a little bitter?) After a summary of CAFA, the authors mention CAFA’s mass action provision, and proffer that the provision was intended to “eliminate mass consolidations such as the unified asbestos trial of some 8,000 plaintiffs in West Virginia in 2002.” Noting the rarity of such mass consolidations, the authors conclude CAFA’s mass action provision will have little affect on mass tort litigation in Texas or anywhere.