Our Attorneys Strategically Litigate Class Action Lawsuits in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania
The attorneys at The Reiff Law Firm take the lead in strategically crafting and pursuing class action lawsuits. Our experienced team of lawyers thoroughly consider both the legal and practical implications before moving forward with a suit. Because a class action must be certified by the court to move forward, selecting an experienced firm able to deftly navigate through both legal and public relations concerns is essential.
Many people have received notifications of a class action lawsuit in the mail or read about one in in the news. However despite their familiarity with the term, many people may wonder what the purpose of a class action lawsuit is? Others wonder what the advantages of joining a class action are. In short, class action lawsuits allow many plaintiffs to join together to defray the costs of litigation among other benefits.
For more than 34 years the attorneys of The Reiff Law Firm have fought for those harmed by the carelessness, negligence, or intentional acts of corporations.
What is a Class Action Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Both state and federal class actions are available for a plaintiff. The guidelines for federal class action lawsuits are found in 28 USC 1332(d) and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 23. Before a proposed class action class can move forward with its lawsuit, the class must be certified. A class is plaintiffs who have suffered the alleged harm. The requirements for certification of a class of include:
- Commonality – The individuals in the class must have suffered the same, or common, legal or factual claims. These issues in common should dominate the proceedings. This requirement helps parties avoid re-litigating the same facts.
- Adequacy – The party or firm representing the class must have resources that will adequately protect the class interests.
- Numerosity – For a class to be certified, the claims of plaintiffs must be so numerous as to make individual actions burdensome or impractical. Multiple individual actions in different courts may result in incompatible standards for plaintiffs or defendants to adhere to.
- Typicality – The classes representative claims, the reason for the lawsuit, or the defendants’ grounds for defense must be typical of other class members.
These requirements only scratch the surface of the legal, technical and practical challenges that must be met to successfully pursue a class action suit. Additionally, a judge must be convinced that the failure to maintain a class action would result in uncertainty or harm or impede the ability of the other members to protect their interests A judge looks to these, and additional factors when determining whether to certify the class and allow the suit to move forward.
Class actions are typically more complex than an individual lawsuit and may require discovery at the outset to secure class certification. However the advantages of a class action can be numerous for not only the parties involved, but also the for the court system.
What are the Advantages of a Class Action?
Class action lawsuits can be brought in a number of contexts. They can involve the interests of a large number of consumers such as in the case of a dangerous or defective product, when a company systematically overbills, for prescription medications, or other harms that affect a large number of individuals. The advantages of combining lawsuits like these are many. To start, this aggregation reduces litigation costs both in the sense that plaintiffs and defendants can focus their resources on a single matter rather than repeating the same discovery, witnesses, exhibits, and more.
- Get Noticed. A class action can represent the interests or express the grievances of hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people. An expanding class can cause damages to rapidly escalate getting your issue noticed by even large corporations.
- Pursue small issues that impact many. Have you paid ticket retailers unexplained “convenience fees”? Suffered from unreported uncomfortable or embarrassing medication side effects? On its own your claim may have been too small to pursue, but a class action may offer a path to justice.
- Consolidate resources. The pursuit of a lawsuit in a class action permits the plaintiffs and interested parties to consolidate their resources into a single case.
- Conserve judicial resources. Class action lawsuits are an essential tool of the modern judiciary. Class actions conserve resources and promote certainty and finality by litigating shared factual or legal questions in a single forum.
Further, a class action encourages the outing and punishment of small wrongs to a large number of people. For instance, it may be impractical for a single plaintiff to go after a company that overbills by $3 each month. However in the aggregate there is ample incentive to correct this type of business practice.
Additionally, a class action can eliminate the possibility that rulings in different courts will conflict and present the plaintiff or defendant a situation where they face incompatible standards and extreme uncertainty. In short, class actions serve an essential interest in ensuring that claims for alleged wrong-doing can be brought. Furthermore, they play a vital role in ensuring that the courts can provide fair and consistent adjucations.
Class-action lawsuits can be particularly well-suited for Pennsylvania products liability case. In fact, a significant amount of class-action lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania target a business, its products or its practices.
Our Pennsylvania Class Action Attorneys Can Help
The Reiff Law Firm offers respected class action representation in Philadelphia. Our experienced class action practice guides your lawsuit through the courts each step of the way . To see if a class action lawsuit is appropriate for your legal issue, contact us today to schedule your free consultation.
