Class Action vs. Individual Lawsuit: What's the Difference?

Courts around the globe hear legal arguments every day. There are different types of courts, and the nature of the legal matter determines which courts hear specific cases. For example, in the United States, a federal court or a state court may hear a criminal case. A divorce case or personal injury lawsuit is typically filed in state court.

Lawyers choose a legal specialty while earning their law degree. Their specialization determines what types of cases they handle for clients. Attorneys may also focus on class action lawsuits or individual lawsuits or represent parties in both matters. Let's examine the difference between a class action and an individual lawsuit.

What is a class action lawsuit?

Class action cases occur when plaintiffs file a suit on behalf of a larger group of people. These cases involve defendants who have allegedly harmed a large group of people who suffered similar injuries. Enabling multiple victims to pool resources and pursue a joint legal case offers advantages to all parties. For example, the average length of time to complete a criminal trial in 1996 was over seven months. From the moment a plaintiff initiates legal action, multiple steps must be taken. Their attorney must file legal paperwork with the courts, have the defendants served, and attend pre-trial conferences.

The defendants are allocated time to have their legal team prepare their defense. The parties' lawyers may also meet for settlement conferences, attempting to agree on terms that would resolve the legal dispute without a trial. In situations where there are multiple plaintiffs, the plaintiffs don't have to wait for earlier cases to be resolved before pursuing legal action. The plaintiffs also share lawyers and resources. Class action suits prevent courts from being backed up with multiple comparable cases. They allow the defendants to handle a significant number of legal issues simultaneously, reducing their legal fees.

Many class action suits involve companies producing products that cause physical harm. The Zantac cancer lawsuit is a class action lawsuit against Sanofi, the Florida drug manufacturer that produced Zantac. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which evaluates and approves the sale of prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, and other products, rescinded Zantac approval in 2020. Consumers can no longer purchase over-the-counter or prescription Zantac. Zantac contains NDMA, which increases the risk of developing several types of cancer, including stomach cancer, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer. The courts are combining cases for individuals diagnosed with cancer after taking Zantac. There's a separate class action suit for individuals who took Zantac but have not been diagnosed with cancer.

What is an individual lawsuit?

Individuals hire lawyers to handle legal matters. For example, people living near Sydney, Australia, may turn to lawyers in Sutherland Shire to address some legal needs. The Solari and Stock attorneys handle family law cases, including divorces and child support cases. They also prepare wills and represent individuals contesting wills. Their commercial law team helps individuals purchase businesses and prepares legal agreements between business partners.

Individual lawsuits involve one plaintiff pursuing legal action against a person, multiple persons, a company, or an organization. Individual lawsuits can address various legal matters, such as a dispute between a landlord and tenants or a medical malpractice case. Individuals may also pursue individual personal injury lawsuits. Suppose you were in a car accident caused by another party's negligence. You may have grounds to sue the negligent driver. Alternatively, suppose your child suffered a birth injury because of medical malpractice. In that case, you may have a legal case against the medical professionals who handled the delivery and the medical facility where the malpractice occurred.

Class action suits are lawsuits representing multiple parties with similar legal issues against the same defendant. Individual lawsuits involve an individual pursuing a court case against a defendant.

Topics

A93820014BS accidents ACS Aha Mobile AI ALPR ALPR Cameras Android Apple Arizona Atlanta ATS Attorney Australia Auto Insurance average speed cameras Baltimore Belgium Beltronics Bikes Brooklyn California Camera Vans Canada carplay Carpool Cars CDOT cell phone Chicago City Council Class Action Cobra Colorado Connected Signals Connecticut construction contracts Corruption courtesy notice Crashes crime Crosswalk crowdsourcing Culver City Dangerous Intersections Dash Cam Data Database Des Moines Distracted Drivers DIY DOT download Drivers License Driving Instructor Drowsy Drunk Drivers Dubai DUI DWI E-ZPass England Escort Europe Facial Recognition failure to stop Fake Cameras FasTrak Fighting Tickets Finance Fines Fleets Florida FOIA Ford France freedom of information act request Garmin Gatso Georgia Germany Ghost Glendale Google Google Maps Government GPS Angel GPS Navigation Guest Writer Hawaii Here Hidden Cameras Highway Robbery Highways HOV Cameras How To humor Illinois Injury Inrix Insurance iOS IOT Iowa iphone iRadar Ireland Italy Iteris Joe Biden Laser Craft Law Suit Laws lawyer Left Turns legal Legislation License Plate Local London Long Beach Los Angeles Loud Exhaust Louisiana LPR Cameras Lyft Machine Learning Magellan Maine Maintenance Manhattan maps Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri Mitac Mobile Ads Mobile Apps mobile speed zone Motorcycle MTA Navigation Navigon Navteq Nestor Netherlands New Jersey New Mexico New Orleans New York New Zealand News NHTSA Noise Nokia NTSB Oahu Oakland Ohio Oregon Parking Parking Tickets Peasy Pennsylvania Philadelphia Phoenix Photo Notice photographs Points Poland police Politics Poll Portugal Privacy Radar Railroad red light cameras RedFlex RedSpeed Removing rental car tickets research Rhode Island Ridesharing Right Turns Ring Doorbell rolling right turns Roundabouts Russia Sacramento Safe Speed Safety Safety Cameras San Diego San Francisco San Jose Scam Schools Seat Belt Seattle secutity settlement Shutting Down signs Singapore Snitch Tickets solar Sound Cameras Spain speed cameras Speed Vans State Ban stop sign cameras Street View Students subpoena Subscription Supreme Court Surveillance Switzerland Taxi Technology TeleAtlas Tennessee Tesla Texas Texting Tickets Tips Toll Road TomTom Tracking Traffic traffic attorney Traffic Camera Traffic Lights Traffic Safety Traffic School traffic tickets Traffic.com Trial by Written Declaration Trinity Trucking trucks UAE Uber UK Unpaid Ticket Vehicle Occupancy Verra Mobility video Violation Fines Violation Info Violation Speed Virginia Vision Zero Voters warning devices warning notice Washington Washington DC Waze Xerox Yellow Lights YouTube