ABSTRACT
Multidistrict litigation (MDL) includes some of the most high-profile torts of our day – opioids, talc, RoundUp, to name a few – but the attorneys who spearhead these proceedings often look a lot like they did fifty years ago: predominately white and predominately male.
A debate has emerged over whether attorneys best positioned to fill MDL leadership roles are the grizzled repeat players who appear time and again – and who are largely white, older, and male – or newcomers with fresh ideas and energy who may not always look like their predecessors. And if diversity is important, what kind of diversity matters?
In this short essay, I suggest that judges broaden their ideas about diversity to consider cognitive diversity – meaning different knowledge, skills, information, and tool kits. In selecting leaders, courts should consider conflicts of interest that are likely to emerge between plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ counsel, encourage dissent and the airing of minority viewpoints, and select leaders based on attorneys’ cognitive diversity …
Burch, Elizabeth Chamblee, Diversity in MDL Leadership: A Field Guide (2020). University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review 2020.
First posted 2021-02-13 09:50:39
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