What is a Class Action?

A class action suit occurs when one or more named Plaintiffs seek to represent many different people with the same or similar complaints. This saves court time and allows a single judge to hear all the concerns at the same time, and come to one judgment or settlement for all parties. If the court agrees to certify the complaints as a class action, all class members share in any monies or remedies ordered by the court.

What factors must be present to start a class action lawsuit?

The civil rules of procedure that courts follow require several factors to be met for a class action case. Simplified, these are:

Numerosity - adequate number of plaintiffs - usually more than one hundred.

Commonality - common claims and legal issues

Typicality - each class member's claim must come from the same event or action or a connected series of events, and must make the same legal claims

Adequacy of Representation - the representative plaintiff must adequately protect and represent the interest of the class and their attorney must be experienced in class litigation.

Monetary Amount ? South Carolina, and some other states, require at least one hundred dollars for damage to each class member. This, however, is not necessary for federal claims.

Who pay the lawyers in a class action lawsuit?

Lawyers who represent a class for money damages are paid out of the recovery. Attorney fee awards are subject to court review and approval. Attorney fees generally are less than the percentage sought for individual cases because the number of persons in the class is much greater. Jackson Law Offices generally seeks twenty-five to thirty percent as attorney fees, although the award may be adjusted higher or lower by the court.

Is my complaint too small for a class action?

Small complaints often can lead to successful class actions.  Courts are more willing to certify large number of claimants with small claims as a class action.