Class Action in the United States

A suit brought by several people on behalf of a larger group whose members have the same legal interest. A class action is indicated when a group is so large that individual suits are impractical. Group suits have been used frequently in recent years and are often the means by which civil rights, consumer, and environmental questions are litigated. A class action is sometimes called a representative action. It can be brought in either federal or state court. It must be certified by a trial court at the outset, and all class members must be made aware of the suit and given the opportunity to exclude themselves. Certification involves a determination that the asserted class actually exists and that the people bringing the action are members of the class.

See Also

Access to Courts (Civil Process) Justiciable Issue (Civil Process) Mootness (Civil Process).

Analysis and Relevance

A class action provides economy and efficiency in the adjudication of an issue. It allows a suit to continue even when some initial class members no longer have standing. The class action is thus an effective device to prevent a suit from becoming moot. It also measurably reduces the possibility of conflicting judgments resulting from numerous individual suits. Class actions overcome the requirement that a plaintiff in a suit must have a direct interest beyond that of the public good. The courts have thus been able to respond to substantial social questions in which the plaintiff was not the only one injured. Several limitations apply to a class action, however. In Zahn v. International Paper Company (414 U.S. 291: 1973), the Supreme Court held that, in order to use federal diversity jurisdiction for class actions, each member of the class must have suffered an injury amounting to at least $10,000 in value. The Court also said in Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacqueline (417 U.S. 156: 1974) that the initiators of a class action must notify, at their own expense, all members of the class. The impact of these decisions has been to reduce the number of large consumer and environmental suits. The more numerous smaller class actions have not been adversely affected.

Notes and References

1. Definition of Class Action from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Resources

See Also

Civil Procedure; Product Liability.

Further Reading (Articles)

Class actions benefit consumers.(Consumer Rights), Trial; April 1, 1997; Davis, Mark S. Grande, Thomas R.

Class Actions And Quebec’s Draft Bill To Enact The New Code Of Civil Procedure. Mondaq Business Briefing; November 14, 2011

Class actions: fundamentals of certification analysis. (Florida), Florida Bar Journal; May 1, 1998; Leventhal, Markham R.

Class Actions in Canada: 2005 State of the Union: Growing, Expanding, and Developing, Defense Counsel Journal; January 1, 2006; McKee, S. Gordon Cook, Martha

International Class Actions in the Canadian Context: Standing, Funding, Enforceability and Trial, Defense Counsel Journal; July 1, 2012; Zakaib, Glenn M. Martin, Jeremy M.

Class Actions Undercut by Insurance, Mondaq Business Briefing; October 25, 2013; Hawke, Fred

Public Class Actions in Italy, Mondaq Business Briefing; November 25, 2013; Schiona, Lamberto

Class Actions in Australia: Surveying the Landscape, Mondaq Business Briefing; April 15, 2013

Class Actions Are Dead. Long Live Class Actions?: The Implications Of AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion For Employers.(Case overview), Mondaq Business Briefing; May 18, 2011

Class actions evolving to survive, conference concludes. Trial; May 1, 2008; Porter, Rebecca

Class Actions in Australia. Mondaq Business Briefing; May 18, 2004

Class actions and the attorneys’ fees conundrum. The Tax Adviser; July 1, 2004; Wood, Robert W. Daher, Dominic L.

Class Actions against the Crown: A Substitution for Judicial Review on Administrative Law Grounds?, University of New Brunswick Law Journal; November 1, 2007; Sossin, Lorne

CLASS ACTIONS, Journal – Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance; January 1, 2011; Boardman, Patrick

Class Actions And The Insurance Industry. Mondaq Business Briefing; September 12, 2011

Class Actions Target Financial Institutions. Mondaq Business Briefing; December 20, 2005

Taming Class Actions: Keeping Best Practices in Mind, Risk Management; February 1, 2005; Feeney, James P. Gottlieb, Richard E.

Removing Class Actions to Federal Court: A Better Way to Handle the Problem of Overlapping Class Actions, Stanford Law Review; April 1, 2005; Morrison, Alan B.

Settling Class Actions – Some Strategic Issues For Pension Plan Sponsors And Administrators. Mondaq Business Briefing; August 6, 2004

Consumer Class Actions: Texas Trends, The Review of Litigation; April 1, 2011; Pinson, Chad M. Hunt, David M.

Class Action in Labor Law

According to unr.edu, Class Action is defined as: A civil action brought by one or more individuals on behalf of themselves and “all others similarly situated” (or equivalent language). The purpose of a class action is to secure a judicial remedy which not only eliminates a wrong committed against an individual, and compensates him or her for the effects of that wrong, but which also provides such remedies for all others in a definable class who have suffered as a result of the same practice or practices. The technical legal requirements and definition of a class in federal court proceedings are contained in Rule 23 (b) of the Federal Rules of Procedure.

Class Action in Labor Law

According to unr.edu, Class Action is defined as: A civil action brought by one or more individuals on behalf of themselves and “all others similarly situated” (or equivalent language). The purpose of a class action is to secure a judicial remedy which not only eliminates a wrong committed against an individual, and compensates him or her for the effects of that wrong, but which also provides such remedies for all others in a definable class who have suffered as a result of the same practice or practices. The technical legal requirements and definition of a class in federal court proceedings are contained in Rule 23 (b) of the Federal Rules of Procedure.