A class action (or class proceeding) lawsuit permits one person to represent a group or class of people that have the same claim for damages. This is particularly effective where each person’s claim is relatively small and might otherwise not be worth pursuing.
A class action follows the standard rules of litigation, but there are additional requirements that must be met in order to quailfy as a class action. These include:
- the litigation must be “certified” by the Court
- there are one or more “representative plaintiffs” representating a group of individuals with a common complaint
- the litigation is generally undertaken on a contingency basis
- the settlement must be approved by the Court