In a class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs are grouped together in one lawsuit against the defendant. The one lawsuit is filed on behalf of everyone in the class, that class being a group of people who share similar damages. To be part of a class action, first, you must show that you experience with the defendant is similar to that of other plaintiffs in the class. Secondly, you must show that the evidence against the defendants is similar for everyone in the class and that individual lawsuits against the company would not be an efficient use of the court’s time, nor would it be cost-effective. Lastly, the individual compensation from the class action must be small enough that it is not worth the time or money for each plaintiff to hire an individual attorney on their own.
The lead plaintiff acts as a representative of the class and is appointed by the court. The lead plaintiff communicates with lawyers about the case and may be required to offer testimony about how he or she was harmed by the defendant. The lead plaintiff may also be required to make decisions that affect the outcome of the case. To be named the lead plaintiff, you must apply within sixty days after a notice of the first class action is published.
Because a class action lawsuit typically involves thousands of claimants, it can take several months for a class action settlement fund to be dispersed to claimants. Usually, the Claim Administrator will provide updates regarding the status of settlement payments.
Even if your damages are small as long as there are enough other people with the same problem there could be a good class action lawsuit. For instance, if you were overcharged $200 fraudulently by a company that would be to small for a class action lawsuit, but if there were 2000 other people overcharged than that would be worthy of a class action lawsuit.
Currently my office has several class action lawsuits regarding debt collectors and telemarketers violating the FDCPA, Rosenthal Act and the TCPA. A couple of the companies that are involved in our cases are Dish Network and T-Mobile. If your rights have been violated by either of these companies or any other companies please give my office a call today at (877) 449-8898. The Law Office of Todd M. Friedman