Publication Date

2024

Publication Title

Yale Law Journal Forum

Abstract

In a recent essay, Abbe R. Gluck, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, and Adam S. Zimmerman object to the increasing use of bankruptcy to resolve mass-tort claims. They and others are concerned that bankruptcy reduces plaintiff voice, impedes the development of state law remedies, and limits discovery that can drive state and federal regulatory interventions. This Response addresses these critiques. Contrary to popular descriptions of the bankruptcy system, bankruptcy courts do not simply aim to maximize economic efficiency and financial recoveries. Bankruptcy includes numerous procedures, including robust disclosure, bellwether trials, future-claims representatives, and voting, to ensure a fair process and promote noneconomic goals. These provisions advance the exact values that critics argue are missing from the bankruptcy process. And, to the extent that bankruptcy is insufficiently attentive to noneconomic values, it is reasonably easy to tweak the system we have to accommodate these goals more effectively

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