Holocaust Litigation
Winter term, Block B
M,T,W,Th,F 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Visiting Assistant Professor Morris Ratner
3 classroom credits LAW-38098A
This course follows the plaintiff class actions filed in the 1990s to recover for Holocaust-era wrongs, from inception to settlement. We will focus on cases against Swiss banks and, separately, against German corporations, which produced two global settlements of Nazi-era claims worth approximately $6.25 billion. The aim of the course is to give students a real-world example of how a major category of international human rights litigation is actually prosecuted and settled. The class will explore the practical/business, substantive legal, ethical, and procedural aspects of this complex, multi-party litigation.
Lessons from the course will apply to other kinds of mass/complex litigation matters. Readings will include (1) historical texts, (2) pleadings and other documents generated in the course of the litigation, and (3) relevant case law, statutes, and international agreements.