A class action is a legal procedure used to prosecute efficiently a lawsuit in which a large number of people have been damaged by a common act or set of actions. In a class case, one or two named plaintiffs stand in for the entire group of similarly aggrieved persons during the course of the litigation. When a class action settles, the judge presiding over the case must approve the fairness and propriety of the settlement. Usually, potential class members have the option, after receiving notice, of excluding themselves from a class or class settlement, and pursuing the case on their own. The class procedure allows individuals and small businesses to prosecute meritorious cases that would have been too expensive and insufficient to litigate individually. Our firm has instituted several class actions including under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA); some have been certified as a class action, while others have settled prior to certification.
