What the Shutts Opt-Out Right is and What it Ought to Be

Authors

Brian Wolfman, Georgetown University Law CenterFollow
Alan B. Morrison, George Washington University Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2006

Abstract

This article discusses the ramifications of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797 (1985), regarding the right of an absent class member to opt out of a class action. The article addresses both the current prevailing understanding of Shutts, which is based on the personal jurisdiction strain of due process jurisprudence, and what the authors believe is a more useful understanding, based on the property rights strain of due process jurisprudence. As an addendum to the article, the authors propose a new civil procedure rule governing class actions that would implement their ideas about opt-out rights and class action governance more generally.

Publication Citation

74 U. Kan. L. Rev. 729-764 (2006)

Scholarly Commons Citation

Wolfman, Brian and Morrison, Alan B., "What the Shutts Opt-Out Right is and What it Ought to Be" (2006). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 962.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/962