New Step by Step Map For Class Action Lawsuit
A class action lawsuits starts out just like any other lawsuit would. It generally involves a company that has in some way violated the right or well being or someone. When it begins to emerge that there are many people who fall into this same category of victim, the attorneys who are handling the case can request class action status from the court.
Basically, there are civil laws in effect which are intended to protect people in various ways such as improperly testing drugs, or not trusting them enough, failure to disclose known defects or problems with a product and other things of that nature. Asbestos would be a good example - when it became known that it could cause cancer and was still being used or not otherwise removed through an abatement program. We can also then cite Toyota, who was subjected to Congressional hearings in 2010 and it came to light that at some point in the process, people knew there was a problem yet they never stopped production in order to fix it.
Cases like these result in the deaths of people, and so the companies should be held accountable for their actions, and that's why the courts will typical grant class action status in such cases. Civil lawsuits, including those that are granted class action status are different from a criminal proceeding. In a criminal proceeding we look to determine whether a person committed a crime whereas the class action lawsuit determines whether a company is liable for harm or injury that happened to the people.
A civil lawsuit is typically heard by a jury who will listen to the evidence and make a determination accordingly. If the company is in fact found to be at fault, they will usually set the financial liability of the company as part of the proceeding. Additionally, if the jury finds that a company was grossly negligent in the events that led up to the reason for filing the court case to begin with, they may also award punitive damages in addition to the amount requested by the plaintiff in the lawsuit.
When a lawsuit becomes class action, the attorneys for the plaintiff will generally be given access to all company customer/client records for a time period specified by the court, and they will send out notifications by mail. However, this is not always the case, so we see on the television a number of different commercials from various law offices advertising these class action lawsuits.
Now, once the jury has decided the outcome and a monetary value place on the indiscretion committed by the company, then plaintiffs, of which there may ultimately be many, are divided into two or more classes depending upon "how much" they were affected by the issue and a monetary value will be set for each class based on a percentage of the award. Once the expenses involved in the proceeding have been covered, the remaining funds are distributed according to the class that an individual falls under within the lawsuit which may be only a few dollars, or it can be many thousands of dollars depending upon the amount that is actually leftover.
Class actions are also familiarly referred to as representative actions due to the very nature of these types of cases. In general, when an accident, defective product, or anything else has wide ranging consequences that affect a number of different people, the general consensus is to file a class action lawsuit. These are legal issues that involve multiple people, and it often takes form in a group that is bringing suit against an offending company, person, etc. However, the reverse can also be true, in which case an entire class of defendants is being sued. In general, the main determining factor in cases of this nature is the number of individuals involved. Because multiple persons are included in cases of this sort, the actions have been fittingly titled as "class actions."
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (specifically, Rule 23 and 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332 (d)) is what is used to govern class action lawsuits. Under the conditions stipulated in these laws, entire groups of people can determine whether or not theirs is a case that could be eligible for class action. In general, the federal courts will become involved in matters that involve civil actions in which the amount in controversy is in excess of $5,000,000. The federal courts will also be utilized in any matter in which even one of an entire class of plaintiffs is a citizen of a state other than that of the defendant; any member of an entire class of plaintiffs is a citizen of any defendant and a state is the citizen of a foreign state; and any member of a class of plaintiffs is a foreign state or citizen or the subject of a foreign state when the defendant is a citizen of the state. Assuming that any of these conditions are at play when a class action suit is filed, the federal court system will undoubtedly be called upon to take action in the matter.
The nature of class action lawsuits sets up the potential for a number of defendants or plaintiffs, sometimes ranging in the hundreds. Therefore, it is not uncommon for cases such as this to span across state borders and affect residents of the country nationwide. These suits must show a commonality of issues in order to be considered in the process of a class action suit, a feat that can prove to be difficult considering the fact that many states have their own set of laws and governing expectations. The possibility for nationwide action lawsuits does exist, and when they are brought before the federal courts they are generally re-distributed to pre-trial multidistrict litigation cases. In this way, it is possible for the courts to look more closely at individual cases prior to attempting to handle the whole suit at once.
Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may or may not be better served in the federal court system vs. the state court system. In general, it has been determined that federal courts tend to produce more favorable results for defendants, while state courts are more apt to act in the favor of a group of plaintiffs. In many instances, the initial filing of a class action suit will be done in the state courts and then moved up to the federal level if circumstances call for it. Also considered to be general practice of cases of this nature is the fact that these suits are filed naming at least one, but often several, plaintiffs on a proposed class of affected individuals. There must be a common injury suffered among the group under legal speculation in order for the claim to be valid. Due process often comes into play with these matters. This means that public notice must be made in which the class action is made viewable to all members potentially involved. This can be accomplished through public broadcast, written statements, and the like. Failure to meet any one of the aforementioned standards could effectively negate the need for a class action suit altogether.
Cases like these result in the deaths of people, and so the companies should be held accountable for their actions, and that's why the courts will typical grant class action status in such cases. Cases like these result in the deaths of people, and so the companies should be held accountable for their actions, and that's why the courts will typical grant class action status in such cases. Now, once the jury has decided the outcome and a monetary value place on the indiscretion committed by the company, then plaintiffs, of which there may ultimately be many, are divided into two or more classes depending upon "how much" they were affected by the issue and a monetary value will be set for each class based on a percentage of the award. Class actions are also familiarly referred to as representative actions due to the very nature of these types of cases. The federal courts will also be utilized in any matter in which even one of an entire class of check here plaintiffs is a citizen of a state other than that of the defendant; any member of an entire class of plaintiffs is a citizen of any defendant and a state is the citizen of a foreign state; and any member of a class of plaintiffs is a foreign state or citizen or the subject of a foreign state when the defendant is a citizen of the state.