FindLaw | Find a Lawyer. Find Answers.
Are you a legal Professional?
Class Action Cases
Class Action Judgments
In a class action, the court's decision applies to every participant who has opted into the class. All individuals who fit within the court's original definition of a class member are bound by the final court decision, even if they never actually go to court or otherwise participate in the lawsuit.
Payment to the participants in the class action usually follows a "plan of distribution." With the help of the parties and their attorneys, the judge develops the plan to distribute the amount that the plaintiff class won in the lawsuit minus the attorneys' fees and litigation costs. Each member of the class may receive certain percentage of the total amount fund, or may receive a certain dollar figure. In some cases, the attorneys seek and obtain permission for an individualized, in-depth review of each participant's claim, so as to tailor the amount awarded to each class member to the "value" of his or her claim. This method is relatively rare, however, especially in large class actions.
When the parties in a class action lawsuit decide to settle, the presiding judge must approve the settlement, making sure it is fair to all parties.
Conclusion
Class actions are a highly effective and efficient form of civil litigation. If you have been injured by a product's side effects or an environmental spill in your neighborhood, the best means of redress is a class action. Accordingly, when seeking legal counsel, the best approach is to find a firm with experience in class action lawsuits.
For more information, including a searchable repository of cases, see ClassAdvocate.com.