What is a Class Action?
Class actions are a means of leveling the playing field between large corporations or other entities on one hand and individuals or relatively small institutions or businesses on the other hand. Class actions enable small claimants to band together to fight back against large corporations in situations where the individuals by themselves may not have a sufficient stake or the financial resources to justify litigation. In a class action, one or more named plaintiffs stand up for the entire group of similarly harmed persons during the course of the litigation since all have been injured by a common act or set of actions.
A. A class action is a lawsuit brought on behalf of a large number of people with the same legal problem. The group, which must be certified by a judge, is known as the class. A class action typically is pursued when it is impractical or unfeasible to file a lot of small individual complaints. An individual, a group or a government agency can initiate a class action. Q. What is a securities class action? A. A securities class action is a single lawsuit that is brought by one or more persons on behalf of a large group of investors who have suffered economic harm due to a drop in stock price attributable to violations of the securities laws. The class action seeks damages on behalf of anyone who acquired a company’s stock within a specific period of time, known as the “class period.” Q. What are the benefits of a securities class action? A. A securities class action enables small investors to sue a large corporation on an equal footing. Individually, small shareholders rarely can afford
A class action is a suit brought by individuals on behalf of a large group of people with the same basic claims. A class action is a lawsuit where one or more persons are named plaintiffs in a complaint, but the lawsuit is litigated for not only the named plaintiffs, but the entire class of individuals who have similar claims against the defendants. The named plaintiffs are called “class representatives” and their claims must arise from facts or law common to the class members. Although this case has not yet been certified as a class action, the motion for class certification has been filed and the case is very typical of cases that are certified. Class Certification will be considered by the Judge after all parties are before the court and have had an opportunity to file answers and responses to the Motion for Class Certification.
A class action is a type of lawsuit in which one or a few named plaintiffs bring suit on behalf of all of the members of a similarly-situated group, to recover damages for all of the group, without the necessity of each member filing an individual lawsuit or appearing as an individual plaintiff. Class actions are used by the Courts where the claims raise basic issues of law or fact that are common to all the class members, making it fair to bind all class members by the Orders and the Judgment in the case, without the need for a trial on each individual claim. Use of the class action eliminates the necessity of filing multiple suits, and assures that all class members are bound by the results of the lawsuit.
Related Questions
- With the GAO report, congressional hearings, the DOL 408 project and class action suits on revenue sharing with mutual funds, what advantage do ETFs have?
- Is formal action of the board of education required for student-funded programs such as yearbooks, class rings and gifts?
- What is a class action settlement?
