Municipality litigation is an increasingly prevalent feature of the civil tort landscape—and that’s no accident. Over the last few decades, plaintiffs’ lawyers have assembled and honed a mass municipality litigation playbook that maximizes their paydays while delaying relief for injured people and undermining the authority of state attorneys general.  

This research documents how this playbook came together, explores seven case studies of litigation that has leveraged playbook elements, and recommends a series of reforms that lawmakers can implement to prevent the playbook from further proliferating at the expense of municipal plaintiffs, businesses, and consumers. Among these solutions are recommendations to:

• Circumscribe localities’ authority to bring suit over statewide, national, and global issues;
• Limit the hiring and influence of private outside counsel;
• Limit the causes of action that form the basis for mass municipality lawsuits;
• Ensure neutral forums for municipal claims and removal of claims to federal courts, where appropriate;
• Mandate fairness and transparency in third party litigation funding, which is likely to impact most mass municipal litigations; and
• Promote scientific reliability in evidence.

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