When Big Business loses it’s moral compass–or never had one–learn how our Cedar Rapids Personal Injury Law Firm can give you and others similarly situated the direction you need to obtain RESULTS while teaching Big Businesses that bad business decisions will not be tolerated by a civil society.

A class action can be best explained by example.  Let’s say a large producer of aluminum or vinyl house siding sells its siding to 100,000 homeowners and let’s further presume there is a manufacturing defect which causes the siding to lose it’s color within a year or two.  Let’s further presume it would cost the typical homeowner $10,000.00 to replace the siding.  If a single homeowner wanted to sue the siding manufacturer, the costs of litigation would most likely exceed the cost to replace the siding, making the single homeowner’s claim an unattractive option from the homeowner’s perspective.  One could quickly imagine that it would not be economically smart for that one homeowner to pursue litigation against the siding manufacturer.

If, however, one or a handful of homeowners band together and have an experienced and knowledgeable class action law firm file what is called a “class action” case, there is a chance that the Court might rule that the case should be certified as a class action if certain criteria are met.  If the Court certifies the case as a class action, then the one (or handful) of homeowners banding their efforts together are now considered “class representatives” who now represent the 100,000 homeowners in their collective quest for justice to remedy the discolored house siding in our example.

While the criteria differs by jurisdiction, courts usually analyze the criteria in a similar way.  For example, the Court will look to  see whether all of the 100,000 homeowner’s claims were typical of one another.  In our example, this might mean that the Court finds that same manufacturer produced the 100,000 homeowners’ siding and that the same manufacturer produced all 100,000 homeowners’ siding using the same defective manufacturing process.  The Court will usually also look to see if the homeowners all suffered the same type of damages (e.g. defective siding that discolors after 2 years) as the Court will also usually want to make sure the class representatives and their attorneys can adequately represent the 100,000 homeowners.  There are obviously other criteria but this post is merely illustrative and not an exhaustive explanation of class action law and theory.

So if a person has a defective car or television or air conditioner or any other defective item where they think many others may be affected by the same defect, they should call a law firm that has experience and a successful track record in handling class actions.

Class actions are not limited to a defective item.  For example, you might notice your utility bill (or bank statements or credit card bill, etc.) contains a questionable charge, or that your city or county is suddenly raising everyone’s property taxes by the same exact percentage under circumstances that seem suspect (e.g. during a down-turn in the housing market), or a company you invested money in used false or misleading information which enticed you to invest (or stay invested) in that stock, or a bank or student loan lender is charging what you feel are improper fees or charges (or applying an additional payment to future interest instead of knocking down the principal owed).  If you suspect something is improper and most likely affected a large number of persons besides yourself, you should contact an experienced and knowledgeable class action law firm.

Class action can span a great range and affect our everyday lives.  For example, the class action might be based upon  railroads’ decision to load heavy rail cars on over 100 year old dilapidated bridges which collapsed causing massive property damage to homeowners and businesses as alleged in the Cedar Rapids Flood Class Action Case filed by Sam Sheronick Law Firm, P.C. (click this link to learn about that case).

For over 20 years, Sam Sheronick Law Firm, P.C., a Cedar Rapids personal  injury law firm, has successfully litigated nationwide class action cases on a contingency fee bases which means you pay no attorney fee unless your case wins or settles.  If you believe you have suffered damages which have been suffered by a large number of other people in a similar manner, please call or contact us now by clicking this link now for a free consultation.

 

Disclaimer: The information contained here and throughout our website, and in our printed or other materials, are for general informational purposes only as this information should not be considered to be legal advice concerning your specific potential case. You should consult an experienced and knowledgeable attorney in this area of law to determine whether the information given in our videos, website, and other materials applies to your specific potential case as the failure to do so could do significant harm to your potential case. Please realize this is not an all-exhaustive explanation of all legal principles involved.  Please remember our firm does not represent you unless or until we enter into a written fee agreement signed by both you and our firm. Click here for additional disclaimer information which applies to this or any other information you might receive from our firm on this website, in our firm’s videos, or from any other information you might receive or obtain from our firm.

 

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