A class action is a lawsuit in which one (or a few) individuals represent a larger group of people with similar claims. Combining their claims in this manner allows consumers to obtain relief for injuries which, taken alone, would not be large enough to justify the time and expense of litigation against large corporate defendants.  Because the rights of many people are at stake in a class action, the case is supervised by the court in a way that most cases are not.  Mass actions are similar to class actions, except that each member of the group is named in the suit individually.

Class actions are often utilized to recover damages and to force companies to provide other kinds of relief (such as product recalls), in the following situations:

• Design or safety defects in cars, appliances and other mechanical devices.
• Manufacture and sale of unsafe drugs.
• Consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices, such as false advertising, breaches of product warranties or consumer service contracts.
• Anti-Competitive Business Practices (“Antitrust” cases).  Price-fixing and monopolization are the most often encountered forms of anti-competitive business practices.  Both federal and state antitrust statutes attempt to promote fair competition by forbidding businesses from colluding to fix prices at an artificially high level, allocate geographical territories, or suppress competition through monopolistic business practices.

Class action litigation is not for all law firms.  Battling corporate giants requires a law firm to have knowledge of class action procedures, command of current legal issues, and the ability to fight toe-to-toe with the corporations' expensive lawyers.  We have been doing exactly this sort of work for years.

If you have suffered a consumer injury, you should consider whether it may be the sort of claim appropriate for class treatment.  We invite you to call us at 800-578-5300.  The call is free, and the advice could be valuable.  Or, e-mail us at: INFO@SACKSLAW.COM