How to Start a Personal Injury Class Action Lawsuit

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By Sarah Wilson CCRP
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Start a class action lawsuit

A personal injury class action lawsuit is a suit filed by one person on behalf of him or her self and a group of other people who suffered the same injury due to a defected product or alleged negligence by the holder of a specific product. For example, asbestos lawsuits, medical practice lawsuits and diabetes lawsuits, all are done as class action lawsuits. Settlement funding from these suits are meant to cover all who signed up for the lawsuit and the "representative" is suppose to act in the best interest of the group. So, how do you start a personal injury class action lawsuit? Here are some suggestions from a practical (not legal) standpoint.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Proof of injury due to product defect or owner's negligence

Step 1

Identify the injury and gather all documented proof of it.

To start a class action lawsuit, you need to first identify the injury and be prepared to show documented proof of it. Gather up all your records, pictures and videos and be prepared to show them to a lawyer.
Step 2

Find others who might have suffered the same injury.

Remember seeing all of those TV ads asking you about medicines you or a family member might have taken? Those advertisements are probably due to somebody seeking others to support their class action lawsuit. Your lawyer might be able to help with locating people, but if you want to get the ball rolling, start looking for people on social networking sites, start a blog or a website and have the appropriate contact information ready.
Step 3

Contact a class action lawyer.

If you feel certain that you have an injury worth looking into, contact a class action lawyer and schedule a consult. They will be able to guide you on the steps you need to take and will probably be able to assist you. According to lawyerasandsettlements.com, a class action lawsuit must show: 1) numerosity (an adequate number of complainants), 2) commonality (injury and damage to individuals are the same), 3) typicality (same legal argument from each lawsuit participant), 4) adequacy of representation (person filing will protect and represent everybody’s interest adequately) and 5) Viability of the defendant (defendants ability to compensate for the alleged damages). A lawyer will be able to review your claim and tell you if you meet the criteria to file a class action lawsuit.
Step 4

Is that all to it?

No, that is not all to it but it is probably all that you can do. I am not a lawyer, but according to my research, the lawyer has to go to court and get the case certified by a judge as a class action lawsuit. From this point on, the lawyer will provide the necessary information and guidance to complete the process to the settlement stage.
Step 5

What about existing personal injury class action lawsuits?

Personal injury class action lawsuits are filed more often than people know. I have received several from lawyers about credit cards and ATM fees. The only one I have ever received any thing from was Blockbuster and a cable company. Blockbuster had to give extra movies for a certain length of time and the cable company had to offer extra services of my choosing. You can find out about existing class action lawsuits by googling “existing class action lawsuits” or the product you are interested in such as “facebook class action lawsuit”.

Comments

jamielaws said

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on 12/19/2008 Good information ! Thanks
You can also watch useful video by New York Personal Injury Attorney at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mSIXMcUJiY