Understanding the Advantages of Class Action Lawsuits

When a company performs actions that could lead to injury (physical or otherwise) to a lot of people, then a class action suit could be in the making.

In California, class action lawsuits can be filed for personal injury, employment issues, and other cases where the members suffered similar harm from the company.
Some of the most common causes of class action lawsuits are:

• Misleading information about consumer products that lead to injuries
• Defective products that lead to injuries
• Employment Discrimination
• Sexual Harassment in the workplace

Before a class action suit can be certified and approved by the court, the lead plaintiff and his representative must first prove certain elements like:

• Number of members – The plaintiff must prove to the court that because of the large number of people affected, it is more practical to combine the claims together instead of individual regular lawsuits.
• Commonality – There should be common damages experienced among the members of the lawsuit. Aside from that, the law in question should also be the same for all involved.
• Typicality – The lead plaintiffs should have the same claims and arguments as those members that they are representing.
• Adequacy of Representation – The lead plaintiffs and the lead lawyers should prove to the court that they will protect the interest of the class.
• Viability of defendant – it is not really a requirement but before filing a class action lawsuit, it is important to determine if the company have the means to pay for the damages.

But why should you file a class action lawsuit instead of an individual lawsuit?

Here are its advantages:

• Consistency – Because there are a large number of affected people who sustained the same type of damages under the same conditions, it gives your arguments more consistency and credibility.
• Extends statute of limitation – Because there are a lot of people involved in the lawsuit, the time limit can be extended beyond that of an individual lawsuit.
• Fewer obligations – there is little required from members of the class action suit aside from having similar experiences.
• Savings – members of the class action suit can share the litigation costs.
• Contingency basis – Most class action suit are taken by lawyers in a contingency basis so members do not even have to make payments because the lawyers will just take a percentage of the settlement or awarded damages. It also guarantees that the lawyer will be working hard for the case since they will only earn once you win the case.

Notifications are usually sent out to possible members of a class action lawsuit.

Once you receive one, it will be up to you to decide whether to pursue it individually or join the class.



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