Shortlisted for the 2005 Walter Owen Book Prize
In Theory of Class Actions, Craig Jones provides a complete and comprehensive defence of the use of the class action for the resolution of mass tort claims. He explodes several popular myths regarding class actions including the notions that they infringe on litigative autonomy, they "blackmail" defendants, they pay too much to lawyers, and they are only effective for numerous, low-value claims.
Jones argues that legislatures', and more particularly courts', use of the device has been haphazard, unprincipled, and in large measure ineffective at realizing the principle functions of tort law—reduction of the overall costs of accidents through optimal deterrence and compensation. In response he sets out principles that might be followed by courts or legislatures in assessing the certification of proposed class actions, and in designing procedures to facilitate optimal realization of policy goals.

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

David Rosenberg is the Chief Economist and Strategist at Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. and the former Chief North American Economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. His economic analysis is frequently featured in Barron’s, the Globe and Mail, the Wall Street Journal, and on CNBC. Rosenberg has been ranked first by economists in the Brendan Wood International Survey for Canada for the past seven years and has been on the U.S. Institutional Investor American All Star Team for the last four years. He ranked second overall in the 2008. He lives in Toronto.

David Rosenberg's profile page

• Short-listed, Walter Owen Book Prize

"This book achieves a new intellectual plateau in our understanding of the nexus between the systems of production and justice. It reorients and advances the agenda for research and the terms of debate on mass tort class actions. ...[Jones's] analysis, findings, and proposals will advance thinking on mass tort class actions worldwide... The book breaks new ground both in substance and methodology."

Professor David Rosenberg, Harvard Law School