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A class action lawsuit is brought by a large group of plaintiffs (the class) claiming that they have all suffered similar injury because of the defendant’s wrongful conduct toward them. In such an action a single plaintiff, or small group of plaintiffs, sue the defendant on behalf of the entire class. To bring a class action, the class must first be certified by a court. In deciding whether to certify a class, there are a few requirements. First, there must be common questions of law or fact as to all of the plaintiffs; this usually means that the class action has to arise out of a single act by the defendant or some pattern of conduct. Second, it must be shown that the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit will adequately represent the interests of the entire class; they must be competent, and they must not have any conflicts of interest with the rest of the class. Third, the class must be so large that it would be impractical for all members of the class to bring a lawsuit individually. Finally, the claims of the class representatives (named plaintiffs) must be typical of the whole class. Potential class members also need to receive notice of the lawsuit. The notice must describe the claim, and inform them that they have a right to opt out of the class action. It must also warn them that if they do not opt out, they will be bound by the eventual judgment, and may not be able to bring their own action in the future. Many class actions can be brought in either state or federal court. Under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, class actions with more than 100 plaintiffs and more than $5 million at stake, and less than 2/3rds of the plaintiffs are from the state in which the action originated, any defendant can have the action removed to federal court. This law was passed with the belief that the class action device had been abused, and that state courts were too friendly to plaintiffs in class actions. If the action involves questions of federal law, defendants can also remove it to federal court. Because many class actions end in settlement, the settlement process in federal class actions is closely overseen by the court. The court must approve the settlement, class members must be able to opt out of any settlement, and any class member can go to court to object to the settlement. |
