When are Class Actions Advisable?

Class actions serve a specific purpose, and really, the positive purpose behind class actions serves both the plaintiffs and the defendants well. When a person, group of people or an entity commits some sort of wrongdoing that harms many people, that potential defendant could face the prospect of being sued by everyone who was injured.

In some cases, this could involve thousands of people, and realistically, litigating thousands of individual claims in response to the same alleged actions would take decades to resolve, and would also likely push the defendants to the brink of bankruptcy, which could result in many victims not recovering any damages for their injuries.

Class actions allow a group of plaintiffs who have been injured in a similar fashion by the same potential defendant to in effect ‘join forces’ and combine all of their claims into one action, and if a recovery is obtained, each member of the plaintiff class would obtain a share of that overall recovery.

This makes sense for both sides, as the plaintiffs will likely have their stories heard much faster if only one case is moving forward and the defendants will have some sort of cost certainty if they are ultimately found liable for their actions. If that entity has to spend years wondering how many lawsuits will be filed against it, it would be almost impossible to plan for the costs of these damages and create the potential to simply shut down and avoid as much liability as possible, depending on the circumstances.

Requirements for Class Actions

Of course, there is a bit involved with filing proper class actions. Generally, the rules governing whether or not a class of plaintiffs and the resulting class action will be certified by the federal court system is governed by Federal Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 23. This rule lays out the requirements for proper class actions, and they are as follows:

Numerosity of Class Action Lawsuits

While there is no set-in-stone number of minimum plaintiffs required for a proper class action to continue, the general rule is that there must be so many potential plaintiffs that adjudicating these claims on an individual basis would be impractical.

Common Class Action Lawsuit Question

Typicality of the class representatives – This is a question that relates to whether a plaintiff’s claims relate closely to the claims asserted by the class as a whole.

Class Action Commonalities

This requirement basically states that the plaintiffs in a class must essentially be presenting the same sort of situation and questions to the judge or jury to decide so that it’s not too confusing for the decision-makers.

Likelihood of Fair and Adequate Representation

The judge will decide whether all of the potential class members will have their interests enforced by the attorney or attorneys prosecuting the claim

If all of these rules are met to the satisfaction of the federal judge, then the class action will likely be certified and allowed to proceed.

Your Next Step - Class Action Lawsuits

If you are one of many people who has been injured as a result of some action or inaction by, for example, a pharmaceutical company, a public utility, a governmental decision, a widely-used consumer product or the like, you have several options available to you, but it’s critical that you choose the proper path if you intend to seek recovery.A Class action lawsuit can be an option, but it needs to be handled properly, which is why you need to contact the Oklahoma law firm of Atkins & Markoff as soon as possible to schedule an initial consultation.