• A class action (formally known as a representative proceeding) is a legal proceeding where one person (the applicant or plaintiff) initiates a legal claim, suing a single party on behalf of a group of people who have similarly been affected by the same conduct. The lawyer will first need to determine whether the lawsuit can be filed, by evaluating the facts and gathering further information regarding:
• Other people who have been similarly affected
• Previous outcomes of similar claims and lawsuits
• Whether a lawsuit has already been filed with the same allegations
• If they can still within the legal time frame for filing lawsuits
• Whether the potential defendant is shielded from any liability

The plaintiff representing the class action should be carefully selected and group members must all have actions arising from similar circumstances with a common question of law or fact for the court to determine that will apply to all group members. A class action must have at least 7 members, but they are often much bigger than that and some have tens or even hundreds of thousands of group members. The plaintiff usually receives a bigger payout than other group members, even if they have not been negatively affected to the same degree, because they represent the interests of the group. 

Class actions are complex legal proceedings and the lawyer representing the plaintiff and group members needs to have experience in handling them, and this will be reflected in the fees they charge. Issues often arise that drive up their fees even further, even if they don’t achieve a good result or they settle the claim for a fraction of the amount they originally said they were claiming. 

 Then there are the expenses payable to experts for writing reports, barristers, witnesses giving evidence, and that’s before the litigation funder collects their share. But it doesn’t end there – add-ons such as photocopying, printing opt-out notices and postage expenses are almost always tacked on to the bill. The amount you actually receive after all that is often less than what you would expect to receive when the settlement sum or award is expressed as a multi-million dollar figure.

OPT-OUT NOTICES

As soon as the requirements have been satisfied, and details of the dispute and class action are defined and confirmed, the court will order “opt-out notices”. These notices are to be publicly announced, and sent to all group members, and provide the opportunity to opt-out of the class action. If they have your correct details and manage to contact you, many of our clients have had no contact for any of the class actions they were in, meaning they did not get a chance to opt-in or out.

On many occasions, this may even be the first time a group member hears about the class action. Even if you are lucky enough to receive an opt-out notice the information can be confusing if you are new to this but unless you opt out in time you will remain part of the class action and be bound by the outcome.

The next step in the process is Discovery. This involves an investigatory phase where the lawyers working on the case request documents from the party that is being sued, which may be used to prove the allegations against them. They may also conduct depositions of individuals who have knowledge of the circumstances involved in the lawsuit. If the claim is not discontinued or settled prior to the hearing, the hearing will take place at which the plaintiff and any other witnesses may be called upon to give evidence. If the case is still unresolved after the hearing is over, it will be decided by the presiding Judge.