Memphis attorney Vincent Perryman discusses Class Action Lawsuits With Malcolm Futhey. A Class Action Law suit is a Civil Action in which you have one representative part representing a group of individuals. An example would be the MCI class action lawsuit in which MCI was charging and early termination fee on customer cell phones. There are so many claims that are so similar that all suits can be filed as one big lawsuit. In order to file a class action lawsuit you need a representative plaintiff that will represent the group and council will represent the plaintiff. Council will represent that plaintiff council will file a complaint requesting the suit be filed as a class action lawsuit. There are four requirements to qualifying for a class action lawsuit: numerosity, commonality of fact or law, have a lead plaintiff who is an adequate representative of the class and a claim typical of the class. You have to have at least 20 to 40 to qualify as a class action lawsuit, over 40 automatically qualifies. You have to show there are facts or laws offending the parties. An example would be a toxic spill that affects all claimant parties. There are multiple types of class action lawsuits. One suit is an injunction that stops the offending party from doing an action. The most common class action lawsuit is a 23-B-3 which is a common law or fact that predominate over all other issues and is superior to bring an individual actions by each class member. Class action lawsuits do not always involve national level parties, it can also involve a small neighborhood locally. A class action lawsuit generally involves no less than 20 people but can involve a smaller group, but rarely does.
The purpose of a class action lawsuit is mainly to give access to courts to individuals that generally don't have access. For example if you have multiple individuals that have damages amounting to one dollar it doesn't make sense to file a suit against the company, but if a group of individuals files a claim at once then the awarded settlement amounts to a reasonable amount of money and the individual may be awarded $.75 but still receives part of their money. Another purpose is to deter social unapproved behaviors by large corporations. The government can rely on attorneys to pursue enforcement of what is consistent with the laws. It is also more efficient for the courts to address all the matters in one case that is fair and equal to all rather than just getting one individual receiving all the money and bankrupting the offending party. You can find out if you are a member of a class action lawsuit generally through the mail. There are also publications that notify there is a class action lawsuit against a company. After receiving notification of being a member of a class action lawsuit you need to determine if you are a class member and what the deadlines are. Find out the deadline to object to the class and to see the deadline for submitting your claim form. If you object to the amount of the claim you can file an objection for a reduction or an increase to the amount. After receiving a notification there is a chance the notification may be to wordy or legally worded. There will generally be a short explanation of the class that explains the class simply. If you need an explanation of the class there are attorneys that can explain the case if the amount receivable from the suit is greater than $5000.00 to each individual.
In a class action lawsuit the suit goes to court and the judgement is rendered. A settlement is approved by the judge and then the claimant form is mailed to the class action lawsuit members. If you feel the settlement is too small or large an objection can be filed by the members only. You should obtain the services of an attorney to file the objection for you to obtain more from the settlement. In the event a member feels the settlement for a class action lawsuit is too much, the member feels the claimant is being too greedy. Some class action lawsuits are in state courts not just federal courts. Generally procedures for a class action lawsuit are followed by the federal rules. Texas is different. In Texas state court, class action lawsuits are very rare. An individual rarely proposes a class action lawsuit. An attorney generally will build a class action lawsuit if a client suggests the grounds. The courts will only allow few qualified and experienced Memphis Lawyers to file class action lawsuits to avoid costly unnecessary suits being filed.
