Hi,
Class action, in my view, is one of the most interesting topics in
modern civil procedure. Today class actions have a particular importance due to
the great number of such claims brought against large corporations. Being popular
in the US class actions are little known, if known at all, in some other
countries. In many jurisdictions class action cannot be brought, at least in
the way that they are bought in the States.
This is a first piece in the series of articles dedicated to class
actions and here I describe the US Doctrine of class actions.
Definition
Class actions are one of the most powerful procedural mechanisms in the
modern civil justice system. Class action authorizes a representative lawsuit
in which one or several individuals are the main plaintiffs representing the
other people injured in similar fashion. Class actions enable to enforce claims
that the majority won’t be able to litigate separately.
Imagine, for example, these David vs Goliath cases when a costumer after
discovery of a fraudulent behavior of the service provider wants to confront
this provider. What means does he have against an army of qualified lawyers? Little
chances unless he is a reach person and he cares enough to get this corporation
punished. On the other hand, class action would enable him to bring in front of
the service provider not only himself but the other individuals who suffered
the same . With the Goliath caliber attorney representing the plaintiffs’ class
action has a real possibility for success. And there are indeed positive
examples of such class actions:
·
“When faulty
Bridgestone/Firestone tires led to numerous accidents and injuries, a federal
judge in Indiana certified the scope of the class to include “all current
residents of the United States who … owned or leased a 1991 through 2001 model
year Ford Explorer as of August 9, 2000.”
·
“Makers of silicone
breast implants were the subject of another huge product liability class
action, which eventually settled for $3.4 billion”.
Sources
It is known that the US is a country of common law, the law created by
the judges. In addition, legislator also issues statues to codify or amend
court practice. The whole civil procedure was presented in the Rules Enabling
Act of 1934 (“the Act”) Rule 23 of
which deals with class actions. According to the Rule 23 a class action may be
filed only if:
·
the class is so
numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable;
·
there are questions
of law or fact common to the class;
·
the claims or
defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of
the class;
·
the representative parties will fairly and
adequately protect the interests of the class.
New York model of class actions
Some States developed their proper rules governing class actions. For
example, New York brought its own model of class actions. According to this
model no class action can be brought if the case is about statutory violation
authorizing damages unless the statute specifically provides. Thus, New York
imposed serious limitations to the magnifying effect of class actions.
Shady Grove vs. All State Insurance case demonstrated however, that a
New York based class action can evade from this limitation. In this case a
lawsuit was brought to enforce a statutory damages provision. The plaintiff,
however, did no address to the State Court but to the Federal Court because in New
York they were not allowed to bring a class action. Supreme Court stated that
the Rule 23, because it was a matter of “procedure”, controls the issue of
class action in federal courts and supersedes contrary law of New York.
Thus, class actions are procedural
(contrary to substantive law) questions governed by the Federal Rule 23.
Hope that the above information was useful for you,
See you soon,
Andrey
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