Class Actions Explained: Who Can File, How They Work, and What to Expect

You’ve seen the ads and commercials: “If you were affected by this, you could be entitled to compensation.”

That, in a nutshell, is what most people think of when they hear the term “class action lawsuit.” But let’s dive deeper.

What Is a Class Action Lawsuit?

In its simplest form, a class action lawsuit is when a group of people – plaintiffs – all file a lawsuit together as one group, or when one person files a lawsuit on behalf of a group.

In legal terms, a class action is “a procedural device that permits one or more plaintiffs to file and prosecute a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group, or “class”, according to the Legal Information Institute.

There are two main reasons for this. It is allowed in our courts for a simple reason: imagine a class action lawsuit involving 100 people. If the court were to hear every single similar case against the same defendant, the courts would be completely tied up.

Secondly, a class action allows individuals to band together against defendants that can be enormously wealthy and powerful, evening the scales of justice a little bit. In this scenario, imagine your average middle class family, who was wronged by a multi-billion dollar corporation. Typically speaking, the family will not have the resources to have any hope of success. Hundreds of plaintiffs, however, have much more power.

As the Legal Information Institute summarizes, “Put simply, the device allows courts to manage lawsuits that would otherwise be unmanageable if each class member (individuals who have suffered the same wrong at the hands of the defendant) were required to be joined in the lawsuit as a named plaintiff.”

There are several types of class actions, but most people are probably familiar with Dangerous Product class actions.

How Many People Are Needed For a Class Action Lawsuit?

This is a trick question. While you’ll often see advertisements touting large groups, the real answer is: it depends.

In some situations, a single individual is allowed to bring a class action on behalf of a group they belong to – so long as the class members “share common questions of law or fact.” However, many law firms caution that federal courts are unlikely to recognize class actions with less than a few dozen plaintiffs.

On the other hand, there is no theoretical limit to the number of people who may participate in a class action.

How Do Class Action Lawsuits Work?

Class action law has evolved over the last few decades. But there are specific rules binding class actions, known as Rule 23 in the federal rules for civil procedures. The Legal Information Institute lays out what the court must find in order to approve a class action:

1. The number of class members renders it impracticable to join them in the action
2. The class members’ claims share common questions of law or fact
3. The claims or defenses of the proposed class representatives are typical of those for the rest of the class, and
4. The proposed class representatives will adequately protect the interests of the entire class.

In short, multiple plaintiffs must all have sufficiently similar claims of damage, such that a ruling would largely have the same affect on all class members.

The question is then before the court: have all these plaintiffs indeed suffered similar harm from the defendant?

How Long Do Class Action Lawsuits Take

Again, the answer is: it depends on the case.

In some cases, the answer is 10 minutes! Defendants can try to end the case before it even begins by settling with the plaintiffs – typically this means payments. According to Top Class Actions, settlements can typically take up to nine months or a year.

However, if class actions go to trial, the timeline becomes years long – typically two or three years, according to the Cochran Firm.