Class-Action Bench-Bar Leadership Summit (2026)

Class-Action Bench-Bar Leadership Summit

co-hosted by Charleston School of Law — March 12, 2026

The Center will hold a Bench-Bar Leadership Summit on Class Actions at the Charleston School of Law on March 12, 2025. The summit will identify problems regarding:

joint training of TAR or generative AI search tools; using generative AI to validate results and address FOMO concerns
limiting preservation of all relevant sources to select number of key custodians and designating limited specific sources for all other custodians
mass arbitrations and waiver of class actions and when is “at an early practicable time” for a judge to rule on amotion for class-action certification
procedures suggested by opposing side that proved to be effective and suitable as candidate for best practices
claims administration issues and post-mortem analysis of Rule 23(e)(5) amendments regarding objectors

Five federal judges will join 25-30 practicing lawyers and other experts on five panels considering potential solutions to the identified problems. Registrations for the summit will be limited. The smaller size and the addition of more federal judges will ensure an in-depth analysis and enhance the likelihood that courts will adopt the practical solutions recommended in the Center’s forthcoming best practices.

CHATHAM HOUSE RULE

The summit will be held under the Chatham House Rule: “[P]articipants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), or that of any other participant, may be revealed.”

Registration

The registration fee for the summit is $950, which includes conference materials, a continental breakfast, coffee breaks, lunch, and grab-and-go snacks at adjournment. Two or more lawyers registering from the same law firm receive discounts (single registrant – $950; second registrant – $750; and third and each additional registrant – $600). In-house and company discounts are available.

CLE

The New Jersey state bar has approved 7.2 CLE credits for attending the summit.

Summit Details

Agenda

Class Action Bench/Bar Leadership Summit, Charleston School of Law (March 12, 2026)

AGENDA

Thursday, March 12

Location: Charleston School of Law, Library, 385 Meeting Street

7:45 am — 8:30 am: Continental Breakfast, Outside Library

8:30 am – 8:45 am: Opening Remarks — John Rabiej and Edward Bell III, President Emeritus & Chairman of the Board, Charleston School of Law

Questions Assigned to Panelists

Follow-Up Questions

8:45 am – 10:15 am: Panel 1 – Claims-administration issues; when is “at an early practicable time” for a judge to rule on a motion for class-action certification; and procedures and practices suggested by opposition that proved to be effective and suitable as candidates for best practices

Moderator: Professor Frank Ulmer, Charleston School of Law

Nicholas DeLuca — Alvarez & Marsal
Harper Segui — Lee Segui
Richard Simmons — Analytics Consulting LLC
Hon. Sean Jordan — Eastern District of Texas
Paul Doolittle — Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo LLC
Francis Citera — Greenberg Traurig LLP

10:15 am – 10:30 am: Break

10:30 am — 12:00 pm: Panel 2 — Two Major Barriers to AI in Ediscovery — Lessons from TAR Experience

Moderator: Professor Allyson Stuart, Charleston School of Law

- Dr. Aron Ahmadia — Relativity
- William Belt — CDS, Complete Discovery Source, Inc.
- Dan Diette — CDS, Complete Discovery Source Inc.
- Robert Friedman — King & Spalding LLP
- William Beausoleil — Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
- Paul Doolittle — Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo LLC
- Hon. Kristine Baker — Eastern District of Arkansas

12:00 pm — 12:45 pm: Lunch, Outside Library

12:45 pm – 2:15 pm: Panel 3 – Preservation, limiting full preservation of all relevant sources to select number of custodians, designating specific sources for other custodians, and suspending auto-delete programs

Moderator: Professor Allyson Stuart, Charleston School of Law

- Hon. Michael Baylson — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Michael Dockterman — McDermott Will & Schulte
- Leah Katz — CSL Behring LLC
- Brad Berkshire — CDS, Complete Discovery Source Inc.
- Paul LaFata — Dechert LLP
- Harper Segui — Lee Segui
- Annesley DeGaris — DeGaris Law LLC
- Hon. David Weisman — Northern District of Illinois

2:30 pm – 4:00 pm: Panel 4: Mass arbitrations and waiver of class actions; and post-mortem analysis of Rule 23(e)(5) amendments regarding objectors

Moderator: Professor Frank Ulmer, Charleston School of Law

- Gary Mason — Mason LLP
- Lisa Ghannoum — Baker & Hostetler LLP
- Tony Weibell — Mayer Brown LLP
- Raphael Janove — Janove PLLC
- Scott Falgoust — Bryson, Harris, Suciu & DeMay PLLC
- Patrick Wallace — Lee Segui
- Brian Carr — Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP

4:00 pm: Adjournment Grab-and-Go Snacks

Attendees

PANELISTS’ BIOS

Attendees

Hon. Baker, Kristine — Eastern District of Arkansas
Hon. Baylson, Michael — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Hon. Jordan, Sean — Eastern District of Texas
Hon. Weisman, David — Northern District of Illinois
Dr. Ahmadia, Aron — Relativity
Bell, Ed — Bell Legal Group
Belt, Bill — CDS, Complete Discovery Source Inc.
Beausoleil, William — Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Berkshire, Brad — CDS, Complete Discovery Source Inc.
Carr, Brian — Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Citera, Francis — Greenberg Traurig LLP
Cohen, Lori — Greenberg Traurig LLP
DeGaris, Annesley — DeGaris Law LLC
DeLuca, Nicholas — Alvarez & Marsal
Diette, Dan — CDS, Complete Discovery Source Inc.
Dockterman, Michael — McDermott Will & Schulte
Doolittle, Paul — Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo LLC
Downing, Jack — Gray Ritter Graham
Falgoust, Scott — Bryson, Harris, Suciu & DeMay PLLC
Friedman, Robert — King & Spalding LLP
Gatto, Frank — Verita Global LLC
Ghannoum, Lisa — Baker & Hostetler LLP
Janove, Raphael — Janove PLLC
Leah Katz– CSL Behring LLC
Klayman, Matthew — Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
LaFata, Paul — Dechert LLP
Mason, Gary — Mason LLP
Mitchell, Gale — Rabiej Litigation Law Center
Opsitnick, Tim — TCDI
Rabiej, John — Rabiej Litigation Law Center
Roth, Mason — JND Legal Administration Inc.
Segui, Harper — Lee Segui
Simmons, Richard — Analytics Consulting LLC
Stuart, Allyson — Charleston School of Law
Ulmer, Frank — Charleston School of Law
Waldron, Jim — Rabiej Litigation Law Center
Wallace, Patrick — Lee Segui
Weibell, Tony — Mayer Brown LLP

Materials

SUMMIT MATERIALS

Panel 1 – Claims-administration issues; when is “at an early practicable time” for a judge to rule on a motion for class-action certification; and procedures suggested by opposing side that proved to be effective and suitable as a candidate for a best practice

Whalen v. Epiq Systems, Angeion Group, JND Legal Administration, Huntington National Bank, Western Alliance Bank, Class Action Settlement Administrators and Deposit Banks Civil Action Complaint, 25-4499, Doc. 2 (SDNY May 29, 2025) (Download)
In Re Class Action Settlement Administration, Centralization Order, MDL No. 3162, Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (December 12, 2025) (Download)
Ckecklist of Settlement Administrators’ Functions, Rabiej Litigation Law Center (Download)
Excerpts from Minutes of Meetings of Advisory Committee on Civil Rules and Committee Note Regarding Timing of Class Action Certification Decision (Download)

Panel 2 – Joint training of TAR or generative-AI search tools; use of generative-AI to validate search results and address FOMO concerns

Analysis of Work-Product Challenges to Court Order of Joint TAR or Generative-AI Ediscovery Training and Validation, Rabiej Litigation Law Center (Download)
In Re Allergan Biocell Textured Breast Implant, MDL NO. 2921 CMO No. 31 (In Camera Examination of Non Relevant Documents Withheld by Defendant (Download)
In Re Allergan Biocell Textured Breast Implant, MDL NO. 2921, CMO No. 33 (60 documents from 1,750 in random sampling asserted to be relevant, but insufficient to require ediscovery remedy) (Download)
In re Uber Technologies, Inc., MDL No. 3084, Order Governing the Production of ESI, Doc. 524, pp. 8-14 (May 3, 2024) (Plaintiffs authorized to review non responsive documents as part of validation process dealing with randomly selected 3,000 documents; results might be below the targeted “80% recall rate, or even lower than 70%” and still be adequate, depending on the “quantity and nature of the documents that were missed by the review process” (Download)
In Re 3M Combat Arms Earplug MDL No. 2885, Pretrial Order No. 12 (TAR Protocol including Joint Training and Validation Provisions) (Download)
Plaintiff’s Objections to Defendant’s Unilateral Decision on Discovery Responsiveness (Highlighted), Actavis Holdco US, Inc., v. State of Conn., writ of certiorari denied (Download)
Random Sampling,There Is No One Size Fits All Sample Size Appropriate for TAR Validation (Part II), Lilith Bat-Leah, Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS) (March 12, 2020) (Download)
MARC, AI Document Review, Altorney (Download)

Panel 3 – Preservation — limiting full preservation of all relevant sources to select number of custodians, designating specific sources for other custodians, and suspending auto-delete programs

TikTok MDL No. 2948 — Sources of Data to be Preserved (Download)
In Re Philips Recalled CPAP Bi-Level Pap and Mechanical Ventilator, MDL No. 3014, Pretrial Order # 1 (November 10, 2021) (Preservation of Evidence Provision) (Download)
Doe v. Uber Technolgies, Inc., MDL No. 3084, Order Regarding Suspension of Company-Wide Document Destruction Policy, Doc. 190, p. 7 (January 9, 2024) (Download)
McCall v. Janssen Pharma. (Elmiron) MDL No. 2973, Doc. 2-3, p. 8 (December 18, 2020) (addressing suspension of rotation of backup media) (Download)
Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(e) (Download)
Excerpts from Minutes of Advisory Committee on Civil Rules Meeting, April 10-11, 2014, Explanation of Purpose of Rule 37(e) (Download)
Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, Minutes of Meeting — April 2005, Preservation Orders Should Be Narrowly Tailored, Rule 26(f)(3) (Download)
Committee On Rules of Practice and Procedure, Agenda Book — June 2005, Explanation of Routine Operation of an Electronic Information System in former Rule 37(f) (Download)

Panel 4 – Mass arbitrations and waiver of class actions; post-mortem analysis of Rule 23(e)(5) amendments regarding objectors

Amicus Curiae Brief, Pandolfi v. Aviagames, Inc., U.S. Chamber of Commerce (March 2025) (addressing unconscionability based on delays in resolving mass arbitrations) (Download)
Amicus Curiae Brief, Pandolfi v. Aviagames, Inc., Public Citizen (March 2025) (addressing unconscionability based on delays in resolving mass arbitrations) (Download)
Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules, American Arbitration Asociation (April 1, 2024) (Download)
Consumer Mass Arbitration and Mediation Fee Schedule, American Arbitration Association (January 15, 2024) (Download)
Excerpts from Minutes of Meetings of Advisory Committee Rules, Addressing Class-Action Objectors (Download)

Registration

Regular Registration — $950.

Multiple Registrations —Two or more lawyers registering from the same law firm receive discounts (single registrant – $950; second registrant – $750; and third and each additional registrant – $700).

In-House Counsel Discount —The registration fee for in-house counsel whose company does not provide a budget for continuing education and training is $250.

Please check the “Other Registration” box under “Registration Type” and insert the discounted fee amount.