Rebuttal: A Response to the 'Tale' on Class Action

Messrs. Wallace and Kelly's (Authors) historical account of the Rule 23(b)(3) class action (see article infra) goes like this: Once, “public interest lawyers” used the class action to “help[] facilitate major social justice reforms,” but now, avaricious plaintiff's attorneys misuse it to enrich themselves at the public expense. Though they used to bring class actions to do good, plaintiff's attorneys now bring them to get rich. And what is the solution to the corrupting of the modern plaintiff's lawyer? Why, ban the rule 23(b)(3) action altogether. And in any event, they say, whatever plaintiff's attorneys' intentions, they are not doing any good: Class actions do not deter malfeasance, and do not compensate victims.