How to Get Certified as a Class for a Class Action Lawsuit

Class action lawsuits can be a savior or a plague, depending on what side of the fence you are on. For consumers and many individuals, class actions are a way of getting compensation for losses that otherwise may not be worth the time and effort of pursuing individually.

For businesses on the wrong end of class action lawsuits, they can lead to significant and expensive verdicts—some big enough to put you out of business.

The news media often reports on large class action lawsuits, so much so that you’d think they are common and easy to bring and win. But becoming a class is no easy task.

If you are the one looking to be certified as a class, it’s important to know the hurdles you face. And if you are getting sued in a class action, fighting the Plaintiffs’ status as a class, can be the key to winning or losing.

How Many Victims?

The first thing that a class action Plaintiff needs to show in order to show the court that it or they should get certified as a class, is the requirement of numerosity. This simply means that there are enough plaintiffs to warrant a class action. In other words, there are too many Plaintiffs to bring the lawsuits on an individual basis.

The Plaintiff must show that simply having multiple plaintiffs in a non-class action (a regular case) would be impractical.

There is no bright line, hard number where there are “enough victims.” It is evaluated on a case by case basis.

Similar Law and Fact

All of the potential victims—the members of the class—must have the same questions of law or fact in their cases—in plain terms, the same things happened to all of them, and the same law will apply to all of their cases. It is Ok if some of the class members have slightly different facts, or if victims have differing amounts of damages.

Typical Representative

Every class has a representative—the person who will be the “figurehead” of the class, and who will be the victim who speaks on behalf of, and represents the victims of the class. That person will be the one deposed, and who will testify in court, and make other decisions for the class. That representative must be typical of all the victims of the class.

Qualifications of the Attorney

Class actions are unique, in that it is one of the few times in the law that the skills, qualifications and adequacy of the attorneys, are evaluated by the court.

The court must be satisfied that the attorneys for the class have the requisite experience and knowledge to represent the class. This is important because each class member is being represented by the attorney, but most of the class doesn’t choose (or even know) the attorneys, the way they would in a normal case.

Need help with your business class action lawsuit? Call the West Palm Beach business litigation attorneys at Pike & Lustig today.

Sources:

floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/considerations-in-class-certification/#:~:text=does%20require%20examination.-,Class%20Certification%20Requirements,typicality%3B%20and%20adequacy%20of%20representation.

law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_23