A Brookings Institution Press and American Enterprise Institute publicationRecent highprofile lawsuits involving cigarettes guns breast implants and other products have created new frictions between litigation and regulation. Increasingly litigation is being used as a financial lever to force companies to accept negotiated regulatory policiesamp151policies that invariably involve less public input and accountability than those arising from government regulation. The process not only usurps the traditional governmental authority for regulation but also shifts the locus of establishing tax policy from the legislature to the parties involved in the litigation. Citizen interests are not explicitly represented and there is no mechanism to ensure that these outcomes are in societyampaposs best interests.By focusing on case studies involving the tobacco industry guns lead paint breast implants and health maintenance organizations the contributors to this volume collectively shed light on the likely consequences of regulation through litigation for insurance markets and society at large. They analyze the ramifications of largescale lawsuits mass torts and class actions for the insurance market and advocate increased public scrutiny of attorney reimbursement and a competitive bidding process for all lawsuits involving government entities as the plaintiffs.