Seminar Topical Research Guides

Choosing a Paper Topic Research Guide
This research guide from the Ross-Blakley Law Library is designed for students who are writing a substantive legal research paper and are looking for guidance on how to begin. The guide details sources for help in selecting a paper topic and offers insight in how to check whether your paper will add new information to the field of law.

Conducting a Preemption Check Research Guide
This research guide details the recommended steps for conducting a preemption check, as well as provides information on and links to a variety of resources for conducting a thorough check.

ABA Mass Torts Litigation Section 
The website of the ABA Mass Torts Litigation Section provides information on new developments related to mass torts as well as to practitioner-authored articles, audio tables of roundtable discussions, and section announcements.

ABA TortSource 
TortSource is a quarterly ABA publication that highlights topical tort law issues and includes legislative updates, examines recent cases, and provides practice tips.  It is also available on HeinOnline (1999-present).

Official NFL Concussion Settlement Program Website 
This website provides official information for the National Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation class action settlement. The website provides links to official court documents, and other

RAND Institute for Civil Justice 
The RAND Corporation is an independent, nonprofit research institution that aims to improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.  RAND’s Institute for Civil Justice produces research concerning class actions and mass torts, which is available on its website.

Google Scholar
Google Scholar allows searching of multidisciplinary scholarly literature including articles, papers, theses, books, abstracts, and technical reports from a wide variety of resources such as journals, repositories, and the web.

Lexis (Lexis password required)

• Torts Practice Page – compiles both primary law and secondary resources related to torts in one place.
• Mass Tort Pleadings: Mealey’s Litigation Report (2004-2014)–provides access to mass tort pleadings from cases filed between 2004 and 2014.
• Class Actions: Mealey’s Litigation Report (2001-current) – in-depth coverage of class action litigation involving mass torts and beyond, with content such as class certification rulings, settlements, trial news and verdicts, appeals, breaking news stories, and new complaints.

Westlaw (Westlaw password required)

• McLaughlin on Class Actions – this two-volume treatise synthesizes the case law and federal legislation concerning class action lawsuits in areas including securities, products liability, antitrust and employment discrimination.
• Westlaw Journal Class Action – this journal provides coverage of class action lawsuits, multidistrict litigation, and complex lawsuits.
• Class Action Reports – provides case analysis and commentary on class action lawsuits in areas including securities, antitrust, consumer litigation, and mass torts.  It also publishes articles from academics and practitioners on class action topics. 
• American Bar Association Survey of State Class Action Law – offers an examination of class action law in each of the 50 states.
• Torts Texts & Treatises– a central location for browsing and searching all tort-specific treatises available on Westlaw.

ABA Directory – Torts Blogs 
The ABA has compiled an extensive list of blogs related to torts. 

ABA Journal Law News – Torts 
This resource provides links to news articles on tort law topics, compiled by the ABA Journal.

ABA Mass Torts Litigation Committee Articles
The ABA Committee on Mass Torts Litigation publishes articles containing in-depth analysis and practical advice on topics relevant to mass torts. Content is available on the ABA website and on HeinOnline (available on campus or remotely with ASURITE).

Bloomberg Law Class Action News (Bloomberg Law password required)
News articles and partitioner insights on class action issues from Bloomberg Law.

Bloomberg Law Product Liability & Toxics Law News (Bloomberg Law password required)
News articles and partitioner insights on product liability and toxic torts issues from Bloomberg Law.

Mass Torts Litigation Blog
This blog is also a member of the Law Professor Blog network. It focuses on news and commentary related to mass torts.

Torts Prof Blog 
The Torts Prof Blog, a member of the Law Professor Blog Network, is edited by two tort law professors.  The blog is updated frequently and features tort-related news and commentary.

ASU Libraries Online Catalog
To find books and other resources in the ASU libraries’ collection related  to mass torts, you can search for resources in the ASU catalog by keyword or subject. Relevant subjects include Torts -- United States -- Trial practice, Class actions (Civil procedure) -- United States, and  Complex litigation -- United States.

Below is a short list of treatises in the Law Library collection related to mass torts. 

Litigating Mass Tort Cases (Paul D. Rheingold, 2019)
This title details the legal underpinnings of mass tort law as well as provides guidance for litigating a mass tort case.  The publication includes forms, discussion of ethical requirements for practice in mass torts, and case histories of significant litigation.

Class Actions and Other Multi-Party Litigation in a Nutshell (Robert H. Klonoff, 2017)
This Nutshell book covers the major topics of class action litigation with a focus on securities, mass tort, and employment discrimination class actions. It is also available online through the Law Library’s West Academic Study Skills subscription (available on campus or with ASU Law sign-up).

Toxic Torts in a Nutshell (Jean Macchiaroli Egge, 2019)
This compact title introduces the study of toxic torts and identifies the theories of liability related to both toxic products and environmental pollution. This title is also available online through the Law Library's West Academic Study Aids subscription (available on campus or with ASU Law sign-up).

Mass Tort Deals: Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation (Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, 2019)
Mass Tort Deals extensively analyzes the use of federal multidistrict litigation to package individual tort suits into one proceeding.