class-action lawsuits

[Rob]

I'm getting more and more requests from visitors about class-action lawsuits, mostly against dubious and/or extremely unreliable wholesale sellers. I assume that the persons that want to bring in the class-action suit just have to come to an agreement which Barr.., erh Lawyer should be chosen, right? This Lawyer will then handle all the paperwork for the class-action lawsuit?

[FW Admin]

From: Answers.com (http://www.answers.com/topic/class-action)


Class Actions

The class action has developed in the twentieth century as a way of managing complex, multiparty (http://www.answers.com/topic/multiparty) litigation. It may be traced to the “bill of peace,” a proceeding that originated in England's equity courts in the seventeenth century. The bill of peace was used when the parties to a dispute were too numerous to be easily managed and when all parties shared a common interest in the issues. It permitted the case to be tried by representative parties, with the judgment rendered binding all. This was more efficient than trying each case individually and was more consistent with equity's goal of doing complete justice (see Injunctions and Equitable Remedies (http://www.answers.com/topic/injunctions-and-equitable-remedies)).

American courts continued to use the bill of peace. Its most eloquent spokesman was Justice Joseph Story (http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-story). In his Equity Jurisprudence (1836) and his Equity Pleadings (1838), Story stated that the purpose of the bill of peace was to promote finality. Law courts could only try issues between the plaintiff and the defendant in a particular case. Equity courts possessed a “power to bring all the parties before them, … at once to proceed to the ascertainment of the general right, … and then to make a decree finally binding upon all the parties.” The bill of peace provided a way to resolve multiparty disputes quickly and effectively.

The effectiveness of the bill of peace and the class action that evolved from it was limited in two ways. First, the procedure applied only in equity cases. To remedy that, it was broadened in 1938 by adoption of rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to include all cases in law as well as equity. Second, some doubt was expressed in early federal cases whether a judgment could bind unnamed parties. This uncertainty remained until 1966, when rule 23 was amended to make it clear that unnamed parties were bound.

Modern rules have defined three kinds of class actions. The first is appropriate where separate litigation might adversely affect members of the class or the defendant in one of two ways. First, the defendant might have inconsistent standards of conduct imposed in piecemeal litigation. Second, multiple suits might “impair or impede” the class members (usually plaintiffs) from protecting their various interests. In the second kind of class action, a class seeks an injunction or some form of declaratory (http://www.answers.com/topic/declaratory) relief. In the third category, a class action is available where questions common to the class predominate over questions peculiar to each plaintiff, and a class action is superior to other proceedings as a means of resolving the controversy among the parties. For this third variety of class action only, rule 23 permits individual members of the class to opt out of litigation if they do not wish to be bound by the results of the class action.

Class actions have become commonplace today, especially as a vehicle for social and economic reform. Many of the leading civil rights cases, for example, were commenced by class action. The class action is also used to promote consumer protection. It is frequently used in antitrust (http://www.answers.com/topic/antitrust) cases and to combat consumer fraud, price fixing, and other commercial abuses. It is also widely utilized in mass tort (http://www.answers.com/topic/tort) cases, where numerous plaintiffs are injured at the hands of a single defendant. The Dalkon Shield, Agent Orange, and asbestos cases are prominent examples.
Although this doesn't directly answer your question, there are several other sections on the linked page above that may be sufficiently informative.