How to Join a Class Action Lawsuit

A partner at Kaliel PLLC, in Washington, DC, Jeffrey Douglas Kaliel works as a class action litigator. Largely handling cases involving the financial services sector, he has been lead class counsel on several state-specific and nationwide class actions. Jeffrey Douglas Kaliel also serves as lead counsel for several putative class action lawsuits.

Class action lawsuits are those in which a large group of people seek damages for shared or similar injuries that resulted from a service, action, or product of a company. Once a class action lawsuit is filed, people who are eligible to join the action are often automatically included in the suit. These class members have their legal interests represented by the suit and do not have to do anything extra to join the action. At most, they must submit a claim by mail or online to get their portion of the judgment or settlement. Instructions on how to do this are included in the notice class members receive if they are included in a class action.

Certain class actions, like those that deal with hour and wage violations, often require eligible members to opt in. In doing so, an individual affirmatively chooses to participate in the lawsuit. Information about doing so is also found in the class notice that eligible members receive in the mail.

Further, while class action members are typically included automatically, they do have the option of opting out of a lawsuit. This means that the individual declines to participate in the suit and will not receive any portion of the settlement or judgment.