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No case starts as a class action. When one or a few plaintiffs bring a lawsuit, and they believe that many other people have been injured in the same manner that they have, they can file the lawsuit and ask the judge to give it class action status. In this way, they can obtain justice not only for themselves, but for everyone in the class. This saves time and money for the litigants and the courts, when compared to many people filing individual cases. It also helps to ensure that large companies cannot get away with cheating large numbers of people out of small amounts of money. Five or ten dollars from ten million customers is a very large sum of money, but it would not be feasible for customers to file individual lawsuits.
At some point, upon a motion by the plaintiff, the judge decides whether a case will proceed as a class action. If the judge decides to “certify” the class action, from that point the case is governed by certain rules governing class actions. Among other things, those rules generally require that everyone in the class be given notice that the case is pending, and an opportunity to “opt out” if they don’t wish to participate for any reason.
Class actions are appropriate in several areas. One common class action involves shareholders who are injured when, for example, the executives of a large company engage in fraud or other illegal tactics to manipulate the price of the company’s stock. The Enron case is a notable example of this.
Certain personal injury cases may be appropriate as class actions. For example, if a large number of people have been exposed to a drug or other substance that does not cause immediate harm, but potentially can cause harm in the future, they may benefit from a class action seeking payment for medical monitoring.
Another common class action is brought by consumers for deceptive practices by banks, product manufacturers, or other large companies. For example, if a bank advertises home loans with certain terms, and customers who respond to the ads find that their loans turn out to be different from what was advertised, they might be able to pursue a class action.
As a successful class action plaintiff, you recover for your own damages like everyone else in the case. Also, the courts are authorized to award you additional money to compensate you for your time and effort, and to reward you for the service that you have provided to your fellow class members.
Several firms represent themselves to be “class action” firms: they specialize in class actions and don’t normally accept individual clients. That is not our philosophy. If you have a valid individual claim, Brayton Purcell will help you and give you the personal attention you need and deserve. If we determine that you may be part of a larger group of injured persons, we will discuss whether it makes sense to bring your case as a class action.