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 applicant/plaintiff will usually receive a large amount of money out of the group settlement.

Alongside the company who funded it, expenses for that company and the lawyer’s expenses and fees, witnesses that are used may also receive a payment.

Once the lawyer has determined the eligibility of the lawsuit, they will draft a complaint outlining the facts of the case and damages being sought. Unfortunately, this does not officially become a class action until the judge has given the lawsuit “class action status”. The lawsuit must satisfy certain requirements before a judge will declare it a class action:

• A large number of people must have been negatively affected by the party being sued
• The lawsuit must involve the same factual and legal issues across all class members
• The plaintiff and class members bringing the lawsuit should have all been negatively affected to typically the same degree, with no significant differences
• The plaintiff and lawyer representing the class action should have adequate interest in the case, and the lawyer also needs to have sufficient experience in handling class actions and complex litigation

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 provides 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 most occasions, this may even be the first time they are hearing about the class action that they have been opted in to, if you are lucky enough to receive a notification the information can be confusing if you are new to this and if an opt-out response isn’t received, the group member will continue to be represented in the class action, and therefore, 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. Following discovery, the case will be taken to court in front of a jury if it doesn’t settle prior. The plaintiff may be asked to testify, and other witnesses may be called upon to offer testimony. If the case has still not settled by this point, it will be handed over to the jury to rule in favour of the plaintiff and class members, or the defendants.