Publication Date
12-1-2024
Abstract
Bankruptcy has evolved into tortfeasors’ choice of law for resolving mass tort litigation. The United States Bankruptcy Code is equipped with procedural devices designed to maximize litigants’ financial recovery and enhance judicial efficiency. Although bankruptcy procedures aim to resolve widespread liability and open the courthouse doors to litigants who may not otherwise recover, they simultaneously overlook the nonmonetary and dignitary objectives underlying tort law. This Note uses the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma—a high-profile example of mass tort litigation resolved through bankruptcy—to examine the extent to which bankruptcy procedures are unable to fulfill the nonmonetary objectives sought by mass tort litigants, such as the opportunity to be heard. Drawing upon the victims’ rights movement that codified victims’ legal right to be reasonably heard throughout criminal judicial proceedings, this Note proposes that mass tort victims whose claims are resolved in bankruptcy court should be similarly entitled to exercise their legal right to be heard through victim impact statements. Extending this legal right to mass tort victims, who are often precluded from actively participating in litigation, balances the irreconcilable objectives sought by bankruptcy law and tort law. This Note also addresses the logistics behind the recommendation’s practical implementation before defending it against three possible critiques. Overall, this Note aims to extend discussion of Harrington as a means of identifying and understanding the often-overlooked issues with litigating mass tort claims in bankruptcy Court. Sections I.B.1 and III.C include discussion of sexual harassment and abuse, which may be unsettling for some readers.
First Page
511
Recommended Citation
Julia Boccagno, Victim Impact Statements in Mass Tort Bankruptcy Cases: Balancing Chapter 11's Proceduralism with Tort Law's Commitment to Nonmonetary Recovery, 102 Denv. L. Rev. 511 (Winter 2025).