Five Things You Need To Know About Class Action Lawsuits

Everyone has heard, at one time or another, of this company or that company being sued in a class action lawsuit. In addition, since it makes the news, and sounds quite serious, a class action lawsuit leaves the impression in the public consciousness that such types of cases are very serious, and that whatever the defendants are accused of doing must have been pretty egregious and awful.

The truth is, however, that just about any type of lawsuit covering nearly every type of case can be made into a class action suit, and the designation of a suit as a class action suit in no way characterizes the nature or the scope of the accusations central to the legal case at hand. This is an important distinction that not too many people, even the lawyers involved, pay much mind to.

If you have a lawsuit over some matter where you were wronged or harmed by a company or a corporation's product or service, you may be rightly considering the possibility of having that lawsuit turned into a class action suit. However, here are five things that you need to consider very carefully before you go through the process of actually doing so.

How Sweeping Are The Effects?

This will, of course, vary on a case by case basis, but it is crucial that you consider very carefully how big and how pervasive the effects of Company A's actions are before you attempt to turn it into a class action lawsuit. If you or only a very small handful of plaintiffs can claim damages, or if the actual responsibility of the cause of the case is murky at best, you may be better served in going with a standard case against the defendants.

How Many Potential Plaintiffs Are There?

One of the biggest determining factors in making a case into a class action lawsuit is how many potential plaintiffs there may be out there. If the cause of the lawsuit is some form of defective product or dangerous application of a service, there may be hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of plaintiffs out there. If this is the case, a class action suit may be a better fit as the additional (and numerous) number of plaintiffs adds volumes of implicit evidence of potential liability on behalf of the defendants in the case.

What Are The Compensatory Damages?

Also, consider what it is you are seeking as far as compensation for your damages or losses. Were they relatively minor, or were they major, in the sense that someone got seriously sick or debilitated as a result?

What Kind Of Punitive Damages Do You Seek, And Is There Cause?

In addition, if your case is over a concern about injury, debilitation or some other incident where a person was harmed physically, there may be a case for punitive damages. If this is the case, a class action may not make sense, because every plaintiff in the class action suit will have to split the damage award equally, even if there is a disproportionate level of damages incurred by each plaintiff.

About the Author:

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