When defective products injure many people, victims face a choice: pursue individual lawsuits or join collective litigation through class actions or multidistrict litigation. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages that depend on your specific circumstances.
What Is a Class Action?
A class action allows one or a few plaintiffs to sue on behalf of all people similarly harmed by a defective product. The class representative pursues claims for everyone, and any resolution binds all class members.
Class actions are appropriate when many people suffered similar harm, common legal and factual issues predominate, the class representatives' claims are typical, and the representatives will adequately protect class interests.
Courts must certify classes before they can proceed. Defendants often fight certification because class actions create enormous potential liability.
What Is Multidistrict Litigation?
Multidistrict litigation (MDL) consolidates similar cases from across the country before a single federal judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings. Unlike class actions, MDL cases remain individual claims—each plaintiff retains control over their case.
MDL promotes efficiency by avoiding duplicative discovery and inconsistent pretrial rulings. After pretrial matters conclude, cases may be remanded to original courts for trial or settled globally.
Advantages of Class Actions
Access to justice for small claims: When individual damages are too small to justify individual litigation, class actions provide a mechanism for recovery. Cases worth $500 individually become viable when thousands of claims combine.
Efficiency: One proceeding resolves everyone's claims rather than thousands of separate lawsuits.
Equality: All class members receive proportional recovery rather than some receiving full compensation while others receive nothing.
Lower individual burden: Class members typically need do nothing except decide whether to opt out; the class representatives and attorneys handle the case.
Disadvantages of Class Actions
Loss of individual control: Class members cannot make individual litigation decisions. The class representatives and attorneys control strategy, and settlements bind everyone.
Lower individual recovery: Class settlements typically provide less per person than individual claims would achieve. Seriously injured plaintiffs often receive less than their individual cases are worth.
Attorney fee priority: Class counsel receive fees from the common fund before distribution to class members, reducing individual recovery.
Coupon settlements: Some class settlements provide minimal value—coupons for future purchases rather than meaningful compensation.
When Individual Claims Are Better
Serious injuries deserve individual attention. If you suffered significant harm—substantial medical bills, lost wages, permanent impairment—an individual claim allows you to prove your specific damages and recover your full losses.
Individual claims are preferable when your damages significantly exceed typical class recoveries, you want control over litigation strategy and settlement decisions, your case has unique facts that distinguish it from typical claims, and you're willing to invest time and effort in your case.
When Class Actions Are Appropriate
Class actions make sense when individual damages are relatively small (economic losses from price-fixing, unauthorized fees), the defect affects everyone similarly (a product that doesn't perform as advertised), and litigation costs would exceed individual recovery.
Class membership may also be strategic. If liability is uncertain, sharing the risk with others may be preferable to gambling on an individual outcome.
Opting Out of Classes
When courts certify product liability class actions, you typically receive notice and can opt out to preserve individual claims. Opting out means the class settlement won't bind you, but you must pursue your own case.
Consider opting out if your damages substantially exceed the class settlement amount, you have strong individual liability evidence, you're willing to pursue individual litigation, and the cost-benefit analysis supports individual action.
Consult an attorney before the opt-out deadline to evaluate whether class participation or individual litigation better serves your interests.
Making the Right Choice
There's no universal right answer. The best approach depends on your specific injuries, damages, risk tolerance, and willingness to participate in litigation.
Discuss options with a product liability attorney who can evaluate your individual circumstances. Even if you ultimately join a class, understanding your options ensures you make an informed choice.