Do you qualify to recover money damages from a class action lawsuit case or settlement claim?
Class actions are often the only way individuals and businesses can remedy injustices committed by powerful corporations and institutions.
Class action lawsuits typically seek to recover monetary damages to compensate class members who have been harmed. In cases involving willful and wanton misconduct, a class action lawsuit might also seek an award of punitive damages to punish a defendant and to deter the defendant and others from engaging in such conduct in the future.
In recent years, hundreds of billions of dollars have been recovered on behalf of injured class members in class action lawsuits.
Monetary payments to class members from a fund
Money damages and other relief can recovered in class action lawsuits either via settlement or trial. If an monetary award is made by a judge or jury after trial or if a settlement payout is reached, the money recovered is usually distributed to class members and others according to a court-approved process known as a “plan of allocation and distribution.”
In a typical class action case, a settlement or award is made in the form of a lump sum cash payment into a fund (often referred to as settlement fund or common fund) that is divided among the class members. The money can be distributed equally, pro rata in proportion to each class member’s losses, or by some other agreed-upon formula.
Some class actions include a claims filing process, so that only class members who submit claims (i.e., claimants) will receive cash payments from the fund. In other class actions (where names and last known addresses of class members are known and depending on the circumstances) payments may be made automatically to class members.
Other types of class action relief and awards
In addition to money damages, some class actions seek declaratory relief (i.e., a declaration of the parties’ respective rights and obligations), injunctive relief (i.e., an injunction prohibiting a defendant from acting a certain way or requiring it to act in some way) and/or other remedies.
Apart from the relief that each class member may receive from a class action, the class representatives (i.e., the individual plaintiffs named in the class action complaint) are also commonly awarded money in the form of an “incentive award” (also known as a service award, case contribution award or class represenative payment) to reward and compensate them for the time and effort they spent pursuing the class action lawsuit and representing the absent class members’ interests.
If you believe you or your business have been wronged by a company, you may be able to recover money from a class action lawsuit case or settlement claim. Contact a class action attorney. A class action lawyer may be able to recover money on your behalf and keep those companies that wronged you in check!
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