Why are class action lawsuits controversial?
Increasingly the public sees the lawyers, both the defense counsel who work for hourly fees regardless of the outcome and plaintiff’s counsel who stand to obtain contingency fees if the class prevails, as the only winners in such a system. This image of class actions, however, is often advanced by organizations and large corporations seeking to undermine the ability of consumers and small and mid-sized business owners who would otherwise be unprotected against corporate misconduct. Without private enforcement of our rights through the civil justice system, we would be dependent upon government regulation to prevent and remedy corporate misconduct. The ability of corporations to prevent effective government regulation has been demonstrated repeatedly. A recent example is Toyota’s “success” in stopping federal regulators from ordering recalls of its vehicles that suddenly accelerated after the problem first came to the attention of the National Highway Transit Safety Association. Before
