Lawsuits are the legal means by which people seek remedy for damages suffered at the hands of an individual or company. A lawsuit may be taken to court where the matter is litigated, but some lawsuits are settled out of court. In most cases, a lawsuit is filed by one party against another, but when multiple parties have the same or a similar claim against a party, a class action lawsuit may be filed instead of an individual lawsuit.

A class action lawsuit typically takes place between consumers and companies, but this type of legal action is not limited to consumers and corporations. There are certain steps needed to file a class action lawsuit, and class action lawsuit payouts can vary based on different factors involved in the case. In general, at least 40 claimants must be a party to a legal action for it to be classified as a class action.

Contact an Attorney

To start the process of filing a class action lawsuit, it’s generally best to hire an attorney who specializes in this type of litigation. There are certain rules and regulations involved in class action lawsuits that don’t pertain to traditional lawsuits. For example, a class representative must be named in the lawsuit, and this person, anonymous or not, serves as the representative for all the individuals making a claim.

Let Litigation Play Out

If the class action case moves forward, your class’ attorney will either litigate the matter or work toward a settlement. In either case, the process can be long. Some class action lawsuits end up taking years or even decades to fully resolve.

Payouts

When it comes to class action lawsuit payouts, the amount of compensation will depend on the actual result of the lawsuit, attorney’s fees and the number of people in a class. Some companies end up settling class action lawsuits for a specific amount to be paid over a certain period of time.

This amount is then split between the class attorney and the class. If the class is very large, the final amount of compensation per class member may be small even if the actual settlement is very large.

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Emily Clarke writes about multiple payment platforms, payouts API, marketplace payouts and more. You can find her thoughts at payouts API blog.