Class actions, or class action lawsuits, are one of the few types of civil cases we hear about in the news most often. If you need to talk to an attorney in Virginia, Howard, Morrison, Ross, and Whelan http://www.hmrwlaw.com offers a free case evaluation.

1. What Is a Class Action Lawsuit?
Class actions, or class action lawsuits, are one of the few types of civil cases we hear about in the news
most often. However, the concept of a class action lawsuit is still a mystery to many people. Like many
legal terms, it refers to an often complicated process, but one which is designed to protect people and
keep proceedings as fair as possible. Let’s look at what a class action is and how it works.
A class action lawsuit is a type of civil suit. Civil law exists to correct or compensate for injustices that
have been committed. Frequently, when an individual person is harmed, either physically injured, or
dealing with property damage, by the actions of another person or a company, they will bring forward a
civil lawsuit to receive monetary compensation to make up for the damages.
When one person harms another, this is relatively straightforward; the dispute is between the two
individuals and the court decides if one person is liable for damages to the other. However, some
injustices involve many individuals. For example, if a company manufactures an unsafe product, it’s
likely that not just one customer was hurt; dozens, hundreds or even thousands may have been harmed.
Each of these people could sue for damages on their own, but that would involve thousands of trials
reviewing essentially the same evidence. This is inefficient for the court system and, more to the point,
it could result in inconsistent rulings, so that not all victims would be treated equally. This is why the
class action lawsuit was developed.
Under a class action, a large number of individual victims are represented collectively in a single
lawsuit. Frequently, these class actions are formed by consumer protection groups or by large law firms
that have worked with numerous victims.
Once a class action is formed, generally all individual lawsuits on the issue are grouped together under
it, giving them collective bargaining power, strong and unified legal counsel, and less legal costs. At
this point, the consumer protection groups and law firms involved may also put out an open call for
other victims to step forward, as they can all be grouped under the same class action and they will lend
further evidence to the case.
Class actions can be filed with either state or federal courts. If filed federally, they will usually all be
shifted to a single US Court division, even if not all plaintiffs are from that region. This is done through
a legal process known as multi-district litigation, which is used for other kinds of cases as well.
State cases may end up being extended to out of state defendants, especially if (for example) the case is
against a company in the state but affects customers in other states as well.
Class actions are generally a good thing for the victims. Often, they have high level legal representation
and the legal fees are paid out of the eventual settlement or verdict.

2. If you have been injured by a product or by medical malpractice you need to talk to a personal injury
lawyer. If you need to talk to an attorney in Virginia, Howard, Morrison, Ross, and Whelan
http://www.hmrwlaw.com offers a free case evaluation.