Why are class actions important

Class action lawsuits can change how an organization operates, how a company does business, industry standards, laws and more. The most famous example of a class action lawsuit that has brought about dramatic changes was Brown v. Board of Education, the case that ended racial segregation in schools and ultimately brought about the end of Jim Crow in the south.

A class action lawsuit’s costs and consequences can motivate organizations. Organizations spend a lot of money to cover their legal costs, not to mention money to cover the court settlement, which can come out to millions or billions of dollars. An organization’s reputation and/or brand can also be permanently damaged. These costs are likely to motivate how the organization and others like it will operate in the future.

Class action lawsuits have compelled the government, banks, manufacturers and other organizations to change their practices, policies and behavior. Class action areas include:

• Antitrust
• Consumer
• Data Privacy
• Employment
• Health Care
• Insurance
• Mergers & Acquisition
• Pension & Retirement
• Securities
• Shareholder Rights

“Class actions allow injured individuals to come together and take on the largest adversary, where the expense of litigating a single claim would be prohibitively expensive. The “class” becomes itself a kind of corporate litigant – allowing individuals to band together and equally match the resources of a government or corporate defendant.”