ACROSS THE AGGREGATION-ENTITY DIVIDE: PERSONAL JURISDICTION, STANDING, AND THE NATURE OF THE CLASS ACTION.

The article delves into the ongoing debate between the aggregation and entity models of class actions, particularly in light of recent Supreme Court rulings on personal jurisdiction and Article III standing. Courts, such as the Sixth and Seventh Circuits, have rejected the application of the Bristol-Myers decision to absent plaintiffs in class actions, emphasizing the unique status of absent class members and the representative nature of class actions. The differing approaches to standing and personal jurisdiction in class actions reflect the complexities of balancing fairness to both defendants and plaintiffs, with courts grappling with the entity-aggregation distinction in determining the nature of the class action device. [Extracted from the article]