Class Actions
Info from Our South Carolina Injury Lawyers
When you invest in a product that does not work, you feel cheated. When you realize that you are a part of a large group of people who have all made an investment in a faulty product, you want retribution on behalf of everyone who has suffered. The South Carolina injury attorneys at McGowan, Hood & Felder, LLC understand your frustrations, and they will help you make the best decisions possible in your potential class action lawsuit.
The Definition of Class Action Lawsuits
Class action lawsuits permit one or more persons to sue or be sued as representative of a large group of people interested in the same matter or issue. The court where the suit is brought typically has wide discretion in determining whether a class action lawsuit will be allowed to proceed. Certain requirements must be met for the class action lawsuit to survive:
- The class must be so large or dispersed that joining all individuals would be impractical.
- There must be questions of law and fact common to all members, and these common questions of law and fact must outweigh any individual questions.
- The named parties must adequately represent the interests of their class.
In the United States, federal courts and most state courts allow class action suits. Such suits have figured prominently in civil rights litigation and in other cases brought to further social and economic reform. In recent decades, groups of consumers and others seeking to cure harms to society have employed class action suits.
Types of Class Action Lawsuits
There are various types of class action lawsuits that can be brought in state or federal court to provide legal redress to consumers and injured parties. Consumer protection class action lawsuits are cases on behalf of consumers against lenders, corporations and insurance companies for violating a business practice, breaching a warranty or committing fraud against large numbers of consumers.
Large-scale consumer protection cases and class action lawsuits are typically complex and likely to involve mountains of documentation, dozens of investigators, experts, consultants, volumes of state and federal legislation and challenging or novel legal issues. They are not ordinary cases in any respect.
The class action lawsuit is a significant tool that allows groups of plaintiffs to prosecute their claims. This tool also allows the joining together of small claims so that defendants with superior resources are forced to protect themselves on level playing fields. Our South Carolina injury attorneys are among the state’s most experienced in bringing class action lawsuits. We have represented groups of plaintiffs harmed by securities fraud, legal malpractice, anti-trust litigation as well as business and consumer fraud. At McGowan, Hood & Felder, LLC, we recognize the vital role class action lawsuits play in protecting victims’ rights and we are committed to continue to lead in this important field.
Our South Carolina injury lawyers have represented clients involving a number of groups of people involved in class action lawsuits. If you are unsure whether you have a case against a company for a class action type claim, contact the South Carolina injury attorneys at McGowan, Hood & Felder, LLC. Attorneys in our Rock Hill, Columbia, Sumter and Anderson office locations represent clients throughout Charleston, Spartanburg, Florence, Myrtle Beach and all parts of South Carolina. Your life is our mission; call today.