Mass tort litigation is an area of law governing cases where a group of people suffer damages as a result of the actions of an individual or corporation. These cases are highly complex due to the large number of parties involved and the existence of multiple variables which must be considered when pursuing the case.
Lawsuits commonly pursued through mass tort litigation involve:
- Product liability
- Pharmaceutical injuries
- Antitrust law violations and price fixing
- Mortgage and predatory lending
- Catastrophic accidents such as plane crashes and chemical plant explosions
- Asbestos litigation
- Toxic torts
Difference between Mass Tort and Class Action Litigation
It is important to understand that mass tort litigation is not the same as a class action case. While there are many similarities between the two, there are also several important differences regarding the way they are handled and the way plaintiffs are compensated.
Class action claims are filed by one party on behalf of a group of plaintiffs who share a similar set of unfortunate circumstances, injuries, and damages. In many instances, the damages suffered by each member of the plaintiff class are nominal and as a result, each member of the class generally receives a small portion of the full recovery.
Class action lawsuits streamline the process and eliminate the burden to our courts of presiding over numerous similar lawsuits. Combining all plaintiffs into a class action will also justify the time and expense of pursuing the case when doing so may not be feasible for each individual plaintiff.
While mass tort claims also accomplish the goal of reducing the number of court cases similar matter, these claims are handled much differently. Mass tort lawsuits treat each plaintiff as an individual. Even though one attorney or a group of attorneys represent all injured parties and share the costs and results of any investigation which must be conducted, each plaintiff will essentially have his or her own lawsuit and not be tied to an outcome that is determined for the group as a whole.
Mass tort litigation shares some of the important benefits of class action cases:
- Time and money is saved by preparing for one case instead of many cases
- Legal resources for similar cases are pooled together to benefit all plaintiffs involved
However, mass tort litigation is often more complex than class action claims because they do not follow a standard, predictable procedure. Also, the presence of numerous individual lawsuits combined together makes determining compensation for each plaintiff more challenging in a mass tort case.
Please contact Harvey L. Walner & Associates today to schedule your free mass tort consultation. We serve clients nationwide from our offices in Chicago, Illinois.