In a consumer society where widespread losses can easily occur, the processes and procedures for providing compensation to large numbers of claimants are very important. To explore issues that affect the speed, efficiency, and fairness with which the compensation system for such losses operates in the United States, the RAND Institute for Civil Justice and the RAND Center for Catastrophic Risk Management and Compensation convened a conference on May 19, 2017, in Arlington, Virginia. These conference proceedings explore stakeholder opinions on the changing roles of regulators, the impact of liens, and claim aggregation. Participants discussed how previous cases — particularly the Volkswagen diesel emissions case — provided examples of how regulators and claimants could cooperate to create satisfactory outcomes for both defendants and plaintiffs. They also explored the role of liens in the settlement process and how different aggregation processes (class action, multidistrict litigation, and inventory settlement) affect compensation. Multiple participants argued that collecting more data on the liens and aggregation processes, as well as exploring how other countries approach claim aggregation, would help the legal community better handle compensation issues.
