Since the damages will be divided among all of the class members after subtracting the legal fees, the value of financial harm you endured might not be enough to cover your losses. You might also want to opt out of a class-action lawsuit if your interests or situation significantly differ from those of the other class members. For example, suppose a class-action lawsuit is filed because of a defective vehicle part that caused small fires and minor property damage for most of the class members.
It would make sense for you not to join the action if, instead, the auto part on your vehicle caused significant fire and injuries. Finally, if you disagree with the legal strategy being pursued by the lead attorneys and plaintiffs, remaining in the action might not be the right choice for you.
When you want to have some say in the case and some control over the decisions, opting out might be the better choice. In that case, you could file a separate lawsuit. However, before you decide to join as a class member, consider all the pros and cons first. Amy Blacklock and Vicki Cook co-founded Women Who Money in March to provide helpful information on personal finance, career, and entrepreneurial topics so you can confidently manage your money, grow your net worth, improve your overall financial health, and eventually achieve financial independence.
Skip to content Please note, this page may contain affiliate links and we may earn fees from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Toggle Menu Close. Search for: Search. We use cookies to ensure we give you the best experience on our website. When you think about the class-action lawsuits mentioned above, they provide great examples of several benefits of filing a class-action lawsuit:. Anyone can join a class-action lawsuit if they believe that they have been injured, either financially or physically, in the way the lawsuit alleges by the actions of the defendant.
Technology has made it much easier for individuals to discover if class-action lawsuits are underway that may include them. Here are two ways to find out about class-action lawsuits:. Several websites provide updated information about current class-action lawsuits and investigations. There are literally dozens of class actions taking place at any given time across the United States.
Individuals can also use the internet to do an online search to see if there are any class-action lawsuits that might involve them. If any class action exists about that product, you will also find information about how you can join that class-action. If you believe that you have been hurt, physically or financially or suffered a loss in any way that you think may be common to other people, you may have the beginnings of a class-action lawsuit.
While anyone can start a class-action lawsuit, it is crucial to talk to a class-action attorney if you wish to do so. Class-action lawsuits can be very complicated. The attorney will help you determine if you have the basis for a class action by reviewing the four prerequisites with you:. Your lawyer will then help you determine other important information you should know before starting a class-action lawsuit.
They will go over whether the potential reward is large enough to justify a class-action lawsuit, what the resources of the defendant in a class-action lawsuit are and whether you should become the lead plaintiff. You can contact your attorney and ask them if they are interested in representing you in a class-action lawsuit. If not, they will likely refer you to attorneys who specialize in this area or in a specific type of class-action lawsuits such as class action employment lawsuits.
If you want to find out about joining a class-action lawsuit, consider using online searches as described above to gather information about current class-action lawsuits. In a class-action lawsuit, a group of people suffering similar injuries either physical or financial join together to file a claim against a common defendant.
If they succeed in their class-action lawsuit or if a settlement is reached before going to court, any awards are divided among members of the group. A regular lawsuit only has one plaintiff, and if a judge or jury awards damages, all those damages go to the single plaintiff.
So, for instance, a group of people could file a class-action lawsuit against the provider of a medical device that injured them all in a similar way. A single plaintiff might file a lawsuit against a doctor or a hospital for malpractice. The lead plaintiff, who is also known as the class representative or the named plaintiff, represents everyone in a class-action lawsuit who has suffered similar physical or financial injuries. There can be more than one lead plaintiff.
Once you have hired an attorney to act as the class action lawyer, you should discuss with them whether you should be the lead plaintiff. The lead plaintiff often receives a larger share of any final award. The judge or jury has the power to grant the lead plaintiff a larger share depending on the role that they played in the class-action and the severity of their injuries.
The length of class-action lawsuits vary. Unlike in the case of an individual lawsuit, a class-action lawsuit involves a significant number of people as plaintiffs and therefore requires you to pay very little for the lawsuit. Your litigation charges are so low that you could discuss with the other plaintiffs and pay for a very competent and qualified lawyer to win your case.
This, in turn, increases the potential of a point in your favor. Some cases are ideally meant to be submitted as class action lawsuits because of their nature. Doing so also helps the court systems work efficiently as, if these class action lawsuits would all take the form of individual lawsuits, then the court would have to spend a lot of its time and resources trying to solve every one of those cases separately.
Although not very generous, filing for a class action lawsuit can land you with an almost certain sum of compensation as if the case is in your favor, then all the members who filed the case are bound to receive some form of compensation.
Also, the chances of a class-action lawsuit not being in favor of the plaintiffs are very rare as a common problem faced by several people together is most likely to be legitimate from a statistical standpoint. One of the significant disadvantages of class action lawsuits is the lack of agency. Since it is filed by many people, the chances of an individual having a say in the settlement agreements or how the accused affected an individual are very small.
The plaintiffs are usually represented by a single representative who collectively decides how to make beneficial choices for the whole class. Even the settlements received out of the agreement resolved are not usually in your control if you file for a class-action lawsuit.
Unlike regular individual lawsuits, which require very little time to be settled, class action lawsuits take ages to solve. Owing to the fact that class action lawsuits usually involve a lot of plaintiffs, the complications arising from it are immense. They, therefore, require a specialized process to see the light of day. Some class-action lawsuits might take even more than three years to be ultimately settled.
This creates many difficulties and is therefore very dangerous to get into if you need immediate results or compensation. Furthermore, the compensation is also sometimes not enough to meet your expectations and can result in further problems to your wellbeing. Through class action lawsuits, going to court with multiple plaintiffs fractionalizes the cost compared to filing on your own.
The court will still hear your voice and issues, regardless of how small your damages are. You and your attorney can begin to consider other affected party members and build a class action lawsuit. A class action lawsuit combines many claims into one, making the entire process much smoother and quicker for all parties involved.
There will only be one judge operating under one courtroom. During a class action lawsuit, the group of harmed people will assign their lead plaintiff to file the lawsuit on behalf of all party members.
This lead plaintiff can also work alongside their lawyer during litigation and can communicate updates back to the entire group. The lead plaintiff, or the class representative, allows the other party members to have a passive role throughout the litigation. To start or join a class action lawsuit, you will need to have a consultation with a lawyer who specializes in class action law to review your claim. If we determine you have a valid case, we will prepare and file a complaint on your behalf.
We will guide you through the settlement process and fight to get you fair and adequate compensation. To start a class action lawsuit, your personal injury lawyer will file a claim with the court. In your claim, your attorney will formally request that the court certifies the potential claimants in your case as being their own class.
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