WHY I SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION?
Participating in a class action is effective, low risk and low cost manner to access to the justice. Since class actions are brought on the behalf of hundreds or even thousands of people, it eliminates the economic barriers and provides a greater bargaining power to the injured parties against defendants that often have significant resources.
Class actions have many advantages over conventional lawsuits:
Class actions are economically effective since they run mostly on contingency basis. Most class counsels agree to be paid only when the class action is successful, directly from the proceeds of a settlement or a judgment. Therefore, the class members are not required to make any payments.
Class actions create strength in numbers by providing a greater bargaining power to the injured parties against defendants with significant resources and a mechanism for pursuing claims of relatively small money values.
Class actions allow people to file collectively a claim when individually they cannot afford to do so.
Class action place very few obligations on class members: they are usually not required to provide any documentation or to testify until the case is resolved.
Class actions are cost effective and increase judicial efficiency since they avoid the necessity of several plaintiffs to file similar individual lawsuits.
Class actions ensure that plaintiffs with similar claims are treated similarly which helps to avoid contradictory rulings.
Class proceeding legislation contains safeguards to ensure that the rights of class members are protected. For instance, any attorney fees agreement or a settlement must be reviewed and approved by the Court.
HOW TO JOIN A CLASS ACTION? WHO CAN BE A MEMBER OF A CLASS ACTION?
In most jurisdictions, as in Ontario, Quebec or British Columbia, class members are not required to do anything to participate in an ongoing or active class proceeding claim. Members are automatically included in the class action lawsuit if they meet the definition of the class provided by the Court, unless they elect to opt-out.
HOW CAN I OPT OUT OF A CLASS ACTION?
When a class action is certified, a notice is published to inform the class members about the certification, the lawsuit and the process for opting out of the class action.
A class member can elect to not participate in the class action by opting out within the terms and the deadline provided in the notification. Once excluded, the person will not be bound by any settlement or judgment of the class action and will no longer be eligible to receive any payment from a settlement or monetary rewards as a result of any judgment. However, the person will be allowed to sue the defendant individually on his own claim within the limitation period prescribed by the law.
HOW DOES A CLASS ACTION WORK?
There are three principal stages in a class action:
Certification Motion. The Court first evaluates if the claim meets all the criteria to be prosecuted as a class action. The analysis takes place in a certification hearing.
The requirements are:
The claim must disclose a proper cause of action and an identifiable class;
There must be issues of fact or law common to all class members;
The class proceeding must be preferable procedure for resolution of the common issues;
There must be a suitable representative plaintiff to act on behalf of the rest class members.
Class Action and Merits. Upon the certification, the Court decides on the common issues and adjudicates the merits of the class action.
Distribution or Individual Claim. Once a damages award has been made, the Court decides the most appropriate way for it to be distributed, whether collectively or individually.
If the evidence establishes with sufficient accuracy the total damages entitled by the class members, the Court orders the defendant to pay the amount covering the class members' claim. The class members whether they actually participated or not in the common issues trial, will receive their pro rata share of the monetary award distributed.
In some cases, however, it will be necessary that each class member produce their claim and establish the value of the damages through mini-trials or other streamlined process to resolve individual issues not decided at the merits stage in order to be entitled to compensation.
DO I PAY TO BE A MEMBER OF A CLASS ACTION? HOW DO THE LEGAL FEES WORK?
There is no fee to become member of a class action.
The Representative plaintiff usually convenes of an agreement with class counsel with respect to legal fees and disbursements. In most cases, class counsels are paid on a contingency basis, which means that there will be no fees until the class action is resolved successfully. Such legal fees are calculated on a percentage and paid directly from the total of the proceeds of a settlement of a judgment. The class members are not required to make any payment even when the class action is not successful.
Any agreement as to the attorney fees are subject to court review and approval which ensure that all fees are fair and reasonable.
HOW LONG A CLASS ACTION USUALLY TAKES TO GET RESOLVED?
Since class actions are generally brought against large corporations and involve complex legal issues, they can take several years to settle. Fortunately, class members have very few responsibilities while a claim is ongoing.
http://www.myclassaction.ca/faq/#.T0A0y04gekc
