What Does This Class Action Letter Mean?

You get a postcard or email informing you that there is a class action against a large corporation, and you’re a class member. What do you do?

Class action litigation involves a large group of people combining their similar claims against a defendant. The email or postcard you receive is notification of the class action, your legal rights, and the next steps to take.

For most class action claim forms, your best option is to remain in the class. However, some class members may want to exclude themselves from filing their own individual lawsuit. For legal advice about filing your own lawsuit, talk to a class action lawyer.

Types of Class Action Claims

There are many types of class action claims, including data breaches, defective products, and securities fraud. Most often, a postcard or letter arrives in the mail from a law firm you know nothing about regarding a product or service you’ve long forgotten.

A class action lawsuit combines many similar lawsuits into one. The cases involve common questions of law and fact. Generally, a lead plaintiff or small group of named plaintiffs serves as class representatives for everyone bringing a claim.

Class action settlement funds are distributed to members of the class. Though there can be large payouts, jackpots for individual class members are rare, according to class action attorneys.

Get Experienced Guidance in a Class-Action Lawsuit

Class-action lawsuits are complex matters. Protect your rights and your options by working with a top attorney by using the Super Lawyers directory.

Find a lawyer today

Why You Received a Notice: You’re Already a Member of the Class

“Once you get one of those postcards, you may already be in the class,” says Gretchen Garrison, an attorney at Gray Ritter Graham in St. Louis, Missouri, who has been involved in multimillion-dollar class actions against Bayer, AT&T, and other large corporations. “So there’s not a question of joining. It would only be a question of opting out or objecting.”

Typically, a handful of plaintiffs’ lawyers file suit against a company and then ask the court to include a large number of other claimants who have similar claims. If the court certifies the class, it falls on the company to provide notice to potential class members.

“The defendant is not always obliged to provide names, and there are a variety of ways to provide notice to potential class members,” Garrison says. “Due process requires the best practical notice, so it may be a publication, website, or email. I’ve even seen them in magazines.”

Once you get one of those postcards, you may already be in the class. So there’s not a question of joining. It would only be a question of opting out or objecting.

How Do You Figure Out What the Class Action Notice Means?

Garrison and other St. Louis class action lawyers urge consumers not to throw the notice away. “The only way you’re going to know what you’re entitled to, and whether you want it, is to read that notice,” says John E. Campbell of Campbell Law in St. Louis. “That notice is your gateway to understanding what’s happening.”

They recommend going to the listed website and reviewing the legal documents. Sometimes you need to fill out a form to be part of the class or submit proof of membership in the class, but most often, you don’t have to do anything at all.

What Do You Do With a Class Action Notice?

Of course, you can opt out of a class action. Why would you? Say you own a car that could potentially accelerate without warning. “If you’re a consumer who actually had that problem and you suffered some personal or physical injury, by all means, you would not want to join that class action because you want to preserve all your rights for your own individual case,” says Elizabeth Carver, a partner at Dowd Bennett in St. Louis.

Sometimes, when there are too many potential class members or they’re hard to identify, a notice is posted in a major magazine, such as Parade. And occasionally, like with the Apple settlement notice, a suit brought by a state’s attorney general (rather than individual lawyers) prompts an “instant” refund.

Typical Class Action Settlement Funds

Generally, don’t expect to retire on any class action money. The rewards are usually small — a coupon or a product replacement — although sometimes they pay off in a big way.

Campbell, for instance, once sued a company on behalf of roughly 100 retirees on the grounds of mismanaged pension funds. “We sent checks out for $70,000 and $80,000 to each person, and they never went to court. They never paid a lawyer,” says Campbell, though he did recover fees. “That’s because we were able to resolve the legal issue one time instead of hundreds of times.”

More importantly, class actions also help keep companies honest. “In the best-case scenarios,” Campbell says, “class actions return money to people and stop bad behavior.”

Find Experienced Class Counsel

If you have questions about a class action case, an attorney can help. If you want to bring your own legal action, visit the Super Lawyers directory to find an experienced class action lawyer in your area.