Filing A Lawsuit as a Class Action

Due to the large size and broad scope of class action lawsuits, they have a funny way of garnering much more attention than they probably should, as they are magnets for the news media, and for those headline aggregator services that operate on the Internet. In today's 21st century world, the news and details of a class action lawsuit can travel all over the world in a matter of a single news day, making these types of lawsuits extremely effective at what they were originally designed to do. What is that, you might ask?

Quite simply, class action lawsuits are designed to convince the defendants in a particular case to come to the negotiating table as early as possible, to work out a class action lawsuit settlement and save both sides in the case time and money in the endeavor. The reason that class action lawsuits can be so effective for this type of convincing is the fact that defendants faced with numerous litigants or plaintiffs do not have much to look forward to in a courtroom, in front of a jury.

However, before you rush right out to get your case certified as a class action lawsuit, there are a few things you need to keep in mind in order to ensure that the case goes successfully for you.

First, Know How a Case Becomes a Class Action Lawsuit

For a lawsuit to become a class action lawsuit, it usually takes the lawyers for the plaintiff to consider, during the discovery phase of the trial, if there is sufficient evidence, or a sufficient number of potential plaintiffs to seek a motion to have the case certified as a class action. If the legal team for the plaintiff does find sufficient cause for a class action, the attorneys for the plaintiffs then request from the presiding judge in the case a motion for reclassification as a class action lawsuit. If the judge agrees, he grants the motion, and it is officially a class action lawsuit.

Then, the defense must turn over the information relevant to all potential plaintiffs in the case, and it is the responsibility of the defense to then mail out opt-in or opt-out notices to each and every one regarding the class action lawsuit.

Second, Take Account of the Damages Incurred By You for Your Claim

Before you have your legal representatives go through this process, it is crucially important that you consider the amount of personal damages that you have incurred over the cause of the lawsuit to begin with. If your damages are extremely high, and your claims for compensatory remuneration are significant, you may not want to go the class action route. Sure, a class action lawsuit will lead to a lawsuit settlement amount rather quickly, but those settlements are usually much less than a jury would likely award.

Then, See If You Can Afford To Have Any Potential Settlement Split an X Number of Ways

In addition, the biggest reason that a class action suit may not be right for you is that whatever settlement is reached, you will have to split it in equal portions with every other plaintiff in the case. This will drastically reduce the actual amount of monies that you might otherwise receive.

About the Author:

Mike Goldman is the author of this article on Lawsuit settlements. Find more information about Accutane lawsuit settlements here.