Class Action

A class action is a type of lawsuit in which one or more representative plaintiffs sue on behalf of a larger group — the class — of people who have suffered similar harm from the same defendant's conduct. Rather than requiring each injured person to file a separate lawsuit, the class action procedure allows all similarly situated plaintiffs to be bound by a single proceeding. Class actions are particularly common in cases involving defective products, toxic exposures, pharmaceutical injuries, consumer fraud, and securities violations.

For a court to certify a class action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (or its state equivalents), the proposed class must meet several requirements. First, the class must be so numerous that joinder of all members in a single lawsuit is impractical (numerosity). Second, there must be questions of law or fact common to the class (commonality). Third, the claims of the representative plaintiffs must be typical of the claims of the class as a whole (typicality). Fourth, the representative plaintiffs must be able to fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class (adequacy).

Class actions are a powerful tool for injured individuals with relatively small individual claims that would not be economically viable to pursue through individual lawsuits. By aggregating thousands of small claims, class actions create sufficient financial stakes to make litigation viable and create meaningful deterrence against corporate misconduct. Without the class action mechanism, many corporate defendants could engage in widespread harm — charging improper fees, selling defective products, polluting the environment — knowing that individual victims could not afford to sue.

The resolution of class actions through settlement requires court approval to ensure that the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate for all class members. Individual class members typically receive notice of a proposed settlement and have the right to opt out and pursue their own individual claims. Class members who do not opt out are bound by the settlement and release their claims against the defendant. High-profile class action settlements have involved pharmaceutical manufacturers, automotive companies, and consumer products companies whose products were later found to cause serious injuries.