Advantages and Disadvantages of Class Action Lawsuits

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels

When you get injured or face damages due to a company’s defective products, you obviously think of filing a lawsuit against the company to get your compensation. If many other employees are injured along with you, it is better to file a class action lawsuit collectively. It makes the case stronger.

However, there are many issues of class action lawsuits as well, which might seem harmful to you. So, let’s learn the advantages and disadvantages of class-action lawsuits before making a decision.

What Is Class Action Lawsuit?

Class action lawsuit is one of the most popular forms of lawsuits nowadays. It involves a group of people filing one case collectively against the opponent party. The accused party might be one person alone or a group.

Being evolved in the United States, it has become popular throughout Canada and other European countries. Canadian citizens mostly practice this class action lawsuit. There are lots of helping services in Canada from where you can get help about this lawsuit.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Class Action Lawsuits

Class action Canada offer several benefits for their members. On the contrary, it contains some disadvantages that are also very important to learn before making the final decision.

Here you will get to know about both the advantages and disadvantages that a class action lawsuit generally offers to its members.

Advantages

Togetherness among Class Members

The first and foremost advantage of class action lawsuits is the togetherness among the class members. In a class-action lawsuit, class members work together and make a strong bond among themselves. And this togetherness leads them to handle any legal issues very tactfully and successfully.

If you file a class action lawsuit instead of a private lawsuit, you will get this benefit of handling all the issues together with the members and of course according to the advice of an experienced lawyer.

Less Payment

When you are a part of a class-action lawsuit, you do not need to pay all your legal case expenses alone. Instead, the entire expenditure would be divided equally among all the members of the class. Eventually, your cost would get reduced.

Generally a legal case or procedure needs vast expenses for several issues such as case filing, lawyer fees, court fees, and many more. Being a part of a class-action lawsuit lessens this cost as you just need to pay the share you bear among the members, nothing more.

Less Hassles in Court Proceedings

Another advantage of class action lawsuits is that there are fewer hassles for both people and the court face in this system. Class action lawsuits may contain more than hundreds or thousands or even more than millions of peoples.

If each of the members files their own cases separately, the court will find it difficult to handle, and obviously, it is time-consuming as well. But filing one case, including all members’ complaints, makes all the procedure less difficult and quick.

No Possibility for Complete Emptiness

The best thing in a class-action lawsuit is that there is no possibility of complete emptiness for any members. That means, if your class action lawsuit gets won in court, the court will grant compensations for all the members.

Maybe you will not get the compensation you asked for all the time, but the court makes sure that all the members get at least a share of the compensation the court decided. And it is not always necessary to go to the court or be present in all class activities.

Disadvantages

Proper Control Deficiency

Besides the advantages, class action lawsuit comprises some disadvantages too. One major disadvantage is that you would not have full control over your case. Since the lawsuit consists of a lot of members, so every member has an equal right to decide how the case should proceed.

You will face proper control deficiency from your side. If you are not comfortable with it, then a class action lawsuit is not for you. You better choose a private lawsuit where you will be all in all.

Time-Consuming If Not Settled

Secondly, class action lawsuits normally take longer time periods compared to a private lawsuit. There are exceptions, of course. It takes several months, even years to settle down the case in the court in most cases.

Because, in a class-action lawsuit, lots of issues from lots of members are being presented to the court. The court might solve some as early as possible, but others might take ages. As a result, the entire case gets hung up. If you are unwilling to wait for a long time, you should avoid a class-action lawsuit.

Getting Poor Amounts

You already know that a class-action lawsuit involves lots of members in one single case. And the court does not always sanction the amounts the members asked for as compensation.

In case the court decides a very short amount for compensation, you will get a very low share from that. It is because the amount that the court has decided will further be divided among all the members. Consequently, your share would become poorer.

A Bit Risky

Class action lawsuits are often very risky. There is a condition in this type of lawsuit that if your lawsuit fails or does not win over the defendant party, you could never file any case on the same issues against the same opponent party.

So, think at least a hundred times or more before you decide to get involved in a class-action lawsuit.

Conclusion

So, finally, you have got at least a basic idea about the advantages and disadvantages of class action lawsuits. It possesses huge benefits for the members. But look carefully into the disadvantages it contains before you take your decision.

Otherwise, you might face so many false positions while dealing with the lawsuit. It is better to consult with a professional lawyer at the very beginning.