BEYOND THE CLASS-ACTION RULE - AN INVENTORY OF STATUTORY POSSIBILITIES TO IMPROVE THE FEDERAL CLASS-ACTION

This Article surveys several areas in which legislation might enhance the utility of federal class actions. It does not suggest a statutory form of class action like statutory interpleader, but it takes initial inspiration from the interpleader statutes' treatment of subjects bey ond the joinder device itself-subject-matter jurisdiction, venue, pers onal jurisdiction, and antisuit injunctions. The matters on which legi slation might be most useful are supplemental jurisdiction, to overrul e the limiting holding of Zahn v. International Paper Co. with some po ssible parallel broadenings of supplemental jurisdiction for nonclass contexts; and authority to enjoin state-court proceedings that could s ubstantially interfere with the conduct of a federal class action. The Article omits treatment of choice-of-law issues, which are the subjec t of another contribution to this Symposium. Beyond areas suggested by the interpleader statute, the Article discusses some issues of substa nce-specific procedural rules and the problems posed by global settlem ent funds. Aside from particular substantive fields such as securities -fraud litigation, federal legislation dealing with class actions does not seem likely for the present. While same statutory measures could be helpful, and others of a broader nature such as authorization for t rial in addition to pretrial proceedings after transfer and consolidat ion could be useful in class as well as nonclass litigation, the main focus for any class action changes belongs on Rule 23 itself and not a n legislation.