CCL President Robert S. Peck spoke on emerging trends in civil justice at the Eighth Annual Judicial Symposium on Civil Justice Issues at George Mason University School of Law, the fourth time he served as the opening speaker at this judicial education program.  The audience of judges and webcast viewers heard Peck discuss recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court on a variety of civil justice issues.  Unlike its blockbuster ruling in Wal-Mart v. Dukes in 2011, Peck said that last term’s class action rulings addressed small, technical matters that could be overcome by workarounds that were not difficult to achieve.  The Court also declined several cases, including one handled by CCL this term, to resolve longstanding issues about the correct test to use for a state to exercise jurisdiction over foreign manufacturers.  However, he pointed out that another case this term, DaimlerChrysler v. Bauman, has some potential to indicate when a domestic corporation is subject to a state’s jurisdiction when only its wholly owned subsidiary is present in the state.  Peck said that that issue would only be reached if the Court were to decide the case broadly, as the issue actually presented in the case was whether the German automobile manufacturer could be subject to jurisdiction in California through its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary for actions taken by its wholly owned Argentinian subsidiary.  Because of the complicated fact pattern in this human rights case, Peck said it is entirely possible that the domestic issue would be left untouched.  The two-day symposium drew attendance from trial and appellate judges from state and federal courts across the country.