What is a class action?
A class action is also referred to as a multi-party claim and is a court procedure which enables a group of individuals with similar complaints against the same defender to seek a judicial remedy in one action instead of each raising separate actions.
To raise a multi-party action there must be;
- a number of possible claimants or pursuers; and
- a single issue or a number of issues which are common to all the possible claims.
Multi-party actions make it possible for all claims to be dealt with in a single litigation and the advantages of a single litigation outweigh the disadvantages.
What is considered a class action?
There are three situations where individuals have the same or similar rights and therefore similar claims:
Arising from a single event (sudden mass disaster)
In these cases, a number of people are killed or injured in the same event.
Attributable to a single cause, but occurring at different times and in different circumstances (creeping disaster, product liability or medical claims)
Typical cases that fall in to this category are claims for damages in respect of allegedly defective drugs, such as tranquillisers. There is likely to be no connection between the claimants other than that they claim to have been injured by the same drug.
Arising from transactions as consumers (consumer claim)
These are typically claims by purchasers of defective goods or services for damage to property or financial loss.
Pros and cons of raising a class action claim
A class action claim makes available to all the members of a group or class an effective remedy which they could not otherwise obtain The legal costs are spread across various parties which reduces litigation costs when compared to a single individual action.
That said, depending on how large the class is, it can mean that awards for individual pursuers can be lower.
Our specialist solicitors are able to advise you on all aspects of class action claims.
