Dec. 09 blog–class action lawsuit

A Class Action lawsuit involves a suit brought by one or more persons, filed on behalf of a group of individuals who all share the same grievance, or who have been harmed in the same way by the same entity.

The cost of filing and fighting a lawsuit can cost a great deal of money, putting justice out of reach for the average person. However, if that person becomes a part of a class (defined as a group of people who share a similar situation), and if that class of people can find a lawyer who is willing to finance and litigate a lawsuit, then all members of the class have a chance to see the wrongdoing against them made right.

In a class action lawsuit, the number of named plaintiffs is generally very few—in fact, it is common in this sort of lawsuit to have only one or two named plaintiffs. However, those plaintiffs represent many other people—sometimes numbering in the hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people.

The damages sought for harm done to a single person may amount to a relatively small amount of money. For example, say an individual is wrongfully charged an extra $10 fee when he or she buys a product or service. Though this represents an injustice, the cost of filing a lawsuit will likely far outweigh the amount of damages being sought. But when that $10 is multiplied by the number of people who had to pay it, the amount could be a profit of hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars to the company that charged the bogus fee. A successful class action lawsuit can force the company to pay back all the members of the class, and to pay an additional penalty.

The Mueller Hillin Law Firm specializes in Class Action Law in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston and Austin. If you believe you may have grounds for a class action lawsuit, please contact us today.