Save Wal‐​Mart, Save Class Action Law?

I've got a short Regulation Magazine piece on the notorious (or glorious, depending on your perspective) Dukes v. Wal-Mart case--a gender discrimination class action composed of as many as 2 million women, according to some estimates. You can read more about the case here and download my Regulation piece here.

Many believe the case is headed to the Supreme Court--if not this upcoming term, then the next. If it does, and if the Court takes up Wal-Mart's constitutional arguments against certification, then, I argue, it might just set the stage for some far-reaching, and overdue, conceptual changes in the way we think about the constitutional rights of class action defendants. My piece uses Dukes as a springboard for sketching some of these defenses--admittedly quite adventurous--which just might become a bit less exotic if Wal-Mart succeeds.