class action

Do you need some class action legal advice?





Class action
A class action lawsuit or class action [1] is a civil action, which gives not only the plaintiff claims in the event of its success, but every person who is affected in the same way as this by the relevant facts - regardless of whether they themselves complained. The collective or group action is also used in the U.S. and there is class action (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Title 28 United States Code Appendix Rule 23). In Germany and Switzerland there are not in shape. Not to be confused with the class action provided for in the German procedural law merely so-called subjective joinder, multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants in the same process.

Contents [hide]
1 class action
2 Examples
3 Germany
4 Review
5 See also
6 Literature
7 References
class action

The special feature is that in a class action law and questions of fact, which may be for a variety of victims of meaning can be clarified uniform whole and for all. The individual is no longer dependent on the (complete) proof of his individual interest, but only has to prove that he is one of the affected group (class).

The law and facts are clarified binding for all group members, even if they were not involved in the process. In extreme cases they do not even have been aware of the process. However, U.S. law allowed the escape of victims from the group for this process, so that spillage can proceed independently from the process (so-called opting out). Class actions often end up with a comparison, especially in the U.S. because the risk of a negative output process for those affected is hardly predictable and financially serious.

Due to the overall economic liberalization of the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. justice system lost the professional adhering elevated moral claim. Through performance-based incentive fees rose to complain against negligible risk immeasurably - six-digit hourly wages for lawyers were in some cases reality. The cost of litigation (plaintiff, defense, administration and compensation) in liability cases rose in the 1990s to about $ 250 billion per year, equivalent to about two percent of all produced in the United States in the course of a single year of goods and services in 2004. [ 2]

Examples

Examples of class actions include: The action of forced laborers, several lawsuits against Microsoft because of the combination of Microsoft Windows with Internet Explorer, the action of the U.S. music industry against Bertelsmann because of copyright infringement by Napster and the action of the victims of the plane crash of Lockerbie against Libya. Of great importance securities class actions are next (securities class actions) of investors from portfolio companies, their executives and consultants for violations of capital market regulations (see, eg, Enron and Worldcom cases).

This article or paragraph, the situation in Germany dar. Help us to explain the situation in other states.
Germany

In Germany, class actions are not permitted in the form of class action, since German law, a group concern is foreign. Each plaintiff must specifically its individual interest, explain and demonstrate his individual damage and the causality between the two.

Common Litigation in Germany there is therefore only in the so-called joinder if the plaintiffs are regarding the matter in dispute in the legal community, or are authorized from the same factual or legal reason. This they are not typically the class action because everyone is entitled because of the damage caused to him individually, not for the same reason.

Another possibility is the connection process according to § 147 ZPO. Here, the judge may combine several separate processes for joint hearing and decision when it comes to the same legal and factual questions in all processes.

The German law recognizes the class action, which is similar to the class action and mainly applies in environmental law.

However, class actions can be brought by Deutsche for events in Germany in the U.S., where the situation is related to the USA. For example, in the case of railway accident at Eschede. The process was allowed because several victims were from the U.S. and the train tickets were purchased in the U.S.. In the case of a class action of the survivors of the Herero uprising in Namibia, however, the reference to the United States was rejected and the court has not served a summons.

With class actions, the German justice can be so far looks as if it's about whether an action brought in the U.S. lawsuit against a Germany-based party in the ways of intergovernmental assistance under the Hague Convention on the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents abroad in civil or Commercial Matters (Hague Convention) [3] is delivered. Hague Convention may be refused under Article 13, Section 1, a request for service if the requested State considers the delivery of likely to endanger its sovereignty or security. If the service provided by the competent judicial authority, 23 EGGVG can be pursued legal action against this Justizverwaltungsakt according to §. With the question of whether a class action, especially if it is associated with one, the German foreign law punitive damages (punitive or exemplary damages), shall be delivered in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court in a decision of 25 July 2003 - 2 BvR 1198/03 - deals. The service in an interim order was forbidden until the decision on the constitutional complaint in the main action. A decision on the merits, it did not come because the constitutional complaint was withdrawn (see Federal Constitutional Court 2BvR 1198/03 - Decision of 9 November 2005).

Rating

Cited advantages
Ease the burden of proof: with complicated evidence (eg whether a battery is not the required number of cycles is reached) the action itself already provides a statistical basis for the assessment. In a single action, this should be clarified only by elaborate reports. This also allows the process to be accelerated.
Smaller amount in dispute: Because of the mentioned battery (amount in dispute under 100 €) it is for a single plaintiff usually too risky to demand his rights, a lawyer would call several times in case of loss.
Lower burden of bureaucracy: instead of many processes is performed only one process.
Contrary held drawbacks
The right of the individual plaintiff is severely limited, he dispensed with the participation in the class action almost on his right to be heard in court.
High total claims almost automatically generate a strong media coverage and thus strong pressure on defendants to compare themselves with the class (class action settlement). In particular, the Federal Constitutional Court sees a possible violation of public policy within the meaning of Article 13 of the Hague Convention. That otherwise damages (also with punitive damages claims) can be delivered and no apparent breach of German fundamental rights (and especially public policy) constitute the Federal Constitutional Court on 24 January 2007 2BvR 1133/04 [2] held.
Lawyers can in class actions (with possibly thousands of victims) of these same fee rates as demand for individual actions. However, you must run only a single process, the client only cause additional administrative costs, this leads to - from a moral standpoint - total fees unreasonable.
This led lawyers to instigate through advertising as many clients for litigation (even if initially may not be regarded as victims), which violates professional ethics.
A lawyer must always represented with full effort every single client, which require the professional ethics. For large class actions, however, this is not possible, the individual victim is a number.
If the compensation by the economic power of the defendant is limited (a bankrupt company can not pay more), the lawyers have the money available - after deducting their fees - somehow (and at worst arbitrary) distributed to the victims, they have no one to their individual needs perfectly represents.
Are not optimally represented clients in court, if necessary, they can then sue her lawyer himself. For large class actions (up to hundreds of millions of euro) the plaintiff attorney is often not even begin to be able to meet such demands.