On its simplest level, the purpose of this book is to explain the legal rules applicable to cases of large scale claims, typically in "product liability" and "mass torts." The book builds on a recognition that there is a field of practice—and, increasingly, of legal study—which demands a working comprehension of the way in which a number of apparently diverse fields of practice interact in the modern courtroom. These practice areas include, but are not limited to, product liability, torts, corporation law, evidence, conflict of laws, class actions, and the law of remedies.

Large scale claims have generated significant changes to both substantive and procedural rules as courts struggle to reconcile modern models of production and consumption with the requirements of justice in the enforcement of private and public obligations. It is this struggle which The Law of Large-Scale Claims addresses.

Jamie Cassels, B.A., LL.B., LL.M. is the vice president academic and former dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria. His research and writing covers environmental issues, law and society in India, and race and gender issues in the law of torts. He is the author of several books including The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons from Bhopal and Remedies: The Law of Damages (Irwin Law, 2000).
Professor Cassels is a director of the British Columbia Law Institute and engages in public interest research and advocacy. He has won numerous awards for his teaching and scholarship, including the Faculty of Law's Master Teacher Award, the University of Victoria Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Canadian Association of Law Teachers Award for Academic Excellence.

Jamie Cassels' profile page

Craig Jones, B.G.S., LL.B., LL.M. practices law at the firm Bull, Houser & Tupper in Vancouver. He has been involved in British Columbia's lawsuit against the tobacco industry and the associated constitutional litigation. He has also acted for the firm's clients in commercial and general litigation, civil rights and civil liberties cases, NAFTA matters, and international commercial arbitration disputes. He is presently counsel to the City of Vancouver's Electoral Reform Commission and an adjunct professor of law at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Theory of Class Actions (Irwin Law 2003) and the co-author, with Jamie Cassels, of The Law of Large-Scale Claims. He has also written numerous articles, mostly in the field of tort and constitutional law.

Craig Jones' profile page

"The Law of Large-Scale Claims is an important work and should be an illuminating read for students, instructors, policymakers, legislators, and members of the bench and bar."

John Kleefeld, (2006) 39 U.B.C.L. Rev. 233