Class Action Defense

Individuals who receive notification of a class action lawsuit have a limited period of time to opt out of the “class” pertaining to a specific suit. Those individuals who do not opt out in a timely manner may automatically become members of the class and their rights to recovery may be limited by the final result of the class action lawsuit.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) states the prerequisites for the maintenance of a class action lawsuit. The rule states:

“One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all members only if: (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.”

If you are a business facing the potential of multiple claims, a class action certification could be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on a number of factors including the potential number of claims and the likelihood of liability exposure for such claims.

The business and commercial litigation attorneys at our firm are pleased to assist business owners throughout the nation in the defense of class action litigation. Our business and commercial lawyers have been trusted by respected local, national and international corporations to handle complex litigation matters affecting the core of their business future.

Our attorneys excel in the courtroom and have vast experience in the mediation of complex disputes. We have achieved multi-million dollar victories on behalf of clients at trial or through summary judgments in our clients favor.

As an example of our class action defense practice, we defended a respected corporate client in class action litigation seeking hundreds of millions of dollars that would have caused the client to go out of business. We guided them to a timely and cost-saving settlement of those matters, both with the class plaintiffs and with the client's insurance carrier — from which the vast bulk of the settlement proceeds came. We also resolved disputes with the insurance carrier to protect the client's best interests.

Our Chicago class action defense lawyers know how to handle class action matters efficiently to achieve either a winning result or a timely settlement that best protects a client's interests and minimizes potential risks. We have a unique perspective that many lawyers do not bring to defending businesses in class action cases because we have also successfully prosecuted class actions for over 30 years and have obtained settlement or contested certifications in hundreds of class action cases. We also have great deal of experience obtaining payment of defense costs from our client’s insurance carriers even when there are coverage disputes resulting in the carriers defending the case under a reservation of rights. Given our experience in insurance coverage matters relating to class action defense, we have insured that our clients receive the protection that they paid for when they contracted for insurance that provides coverage for certain types of class action disputes. By obtaining insurance carrier participation in the cases we have enabled our clients to obtain some peace of mind in cases that seek very large amounts of potential damages.

To contact a class action defense lawyer at our Chicago firm, contact our Illinois law offices in Elmhurst or Chicago, Illinois. For assistance, call 630-333-0333 or contact us by e-mail.