What is a class action? A class action is a suit where one or two people—maybe as many as five or ten—stand as representatives for a much larger group of people. We’ve represented classes of tens of thousands of people, typically individuals who have been harmed in the same way.
For example, years ago we represented all the people who were customers of Ford Motor Credit. Ford Motor Credit was really gouging people with late fees—if they were a day or two late on their lease payment or car payment—and it was illegal. So, we represented thousands, even tens of thousands, of people in that case, but there were only a few people who were what’s called our class representatives. By those people coming forward and hiring us, we were able to represent the whole group of people who were harmed.
Another example is when we represented all the people with State Farm Insurance who experienced a fire loss or a theft loss and made a claim for their personal property reimbursement. Well, State Farm was not paying people correctly, and that was a case we actually took to trial—and won—forcing State Farm to change how they adjust people’s personal property losses.
We’re proud of that. But again, that was tens of thousands of people we represented, and the class representatives received some small compensation for coming forward on behalf of everyone. Typically, the court orders the defendant—or in a settlement, the defendant agrees—to pay the attorney’s fees, so people who come forward as class representatives aren’t out of pocket either.
Again, we take the risk of moving forward on behalf of the class, but it’s a powerful mechanism to hold corporations accountable.
