Class Action

What Is a Class Action? A class action is a procedural mechanism that allows a representative plaintiff (or small group of plaintiffs) to bring a lawsuit on behalf of a larger class of individuals who share common legal claims against the same defendant. This approach is used when individual lawsuits would be impractical due to the large number of affected parties or the relatively small value of individual claims. ## Requirements for Certification Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, a class action must satisfy: - **Numerosity** means the class is so large that joining all members individually would be impractical - **Commonality** means there are questions of law or fact common to the class - **Typicality** means the representative plaintiff's claims are typical of the class - **Adequacy** means the representative plaintiff will fairly and adequately protect the class interests ## How Class Actions Work Once a court certifies the class, all members are bound by the outcome unless they opt out. Settlements in class actions must be approved by the court to protect absent class members. Attorneys' fees are typically paid from the recovery. Common areas for class actions include consumer fraud, securities violations, employment discrimination, product liability, and data breaches.