In the 1960s the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to allow for class action litigation. In many states, including Ohio, litigants are permitted to bring class action lawsuits in state and federal courts. These suits develop when a relatively large number of people are injured, financially or physically, by the acts of a particular defendant. Requiring each litigant to sue individually for his or her damages would result in expensive and time consuming litigation. Class action lawsuits are considered to be an efficient use of judicial resources, in allowing a large number of individuals and/or small businesses to bring meritorious cases that would otherwise have been too expensive and/or too inefficient to litigate separately.

Class action litigation requires in-depth analysis of the claims being made and of the class itself. The analysis includes:

Numerosity -- Are there enough people affected by the illegal practice to warrant a class action;

Commonality -- Do the affected people share common legal interests and issues;

Typicality -- Are the claims of the person(s) bringing this suit typical of those of the entire class;

Adequacy of Representation -- Will the law firm bringing the case be willing and able to represent the interests of the entire class.

Our attorneys have experience in class action litigation, including: pre-certification hearing discovery; class certification hearings; motion practice regarding certification rulings; and discovery and litigation surrounding the merits of the claims brought by the class.
Our attorneys have been successful in obtaining a defense judgement in a statewide class action involving the defense of an insurance company against tort claims made by the company’s insureds. In addition, we have prevailed on a certification motion filed against another insurance company by that company’s insureds. Both cases resulted in $0.00 being paid to the plaintiff class.

In such complex cases our attorneys emphasize early strategic thinking with the ultimate goal of obtaining a result for their clients that is consistent with their clients’ business objectives. One part of our attorneys’ proactive approach includes counseling corporate clients on various risk management issues in an effort to minimize potential exposure to class action litigation.

Our attorneys realize that defending class actions can be costly and therefore they strive to utilize alternative dispute resolution practices such as arbitration, mediation and other settlement measures consistent with the clients’ business goals.

If your company is facing the possibility of a class action suit, please feel free to contact one of the attorneys below to ensure your company’s interests are fully protected.