Judiciary Case Search Lawsuits

Judiciary Case Search Lawsuits

What Are Class Action Suits?

In the legal world, a class action suit is a judiciary case search filed by someone known as the lead plaintiff on behalf of several victims of the same crime. As a result, class action suits usually occur when a crime or an injury caused by someone or a company affects a large group of people. The lead plaintiff, who is one of the several victims affected, files the case against the person or the company on behalf of other victims. This type of lawsuit is often filed against large organizations such as government entities, retailers, financial institutions, employers, manufacturers, etc.

How Do Class Action Lawsuits Work?

For a judiciary case search to qualify as a class action lawsuit, it must involve several plaintiffs with similar injuries. One or more of the plaintiffs is [are] selected as the lead plaintiff to represent the class.  The group of plaintiffs is called a class hence the name, class action lawsuit.  The lead plaintiff must possess the same injury or complaint.  As other members of the class and must show that he or she can represent the group adequately. Otherwise, he or she doesn’t qualify as a representative of the class.

Having met the requirement, first the class is then certified by the judge. For the judge to proceed with the case, secondly, the lead plaintiff or plaintiffs must be able to demonstrate that they have a valid claim against the defendant. After which, each member of the class is notified by the court.  Therefore, a hearing is scheduled.

How To Find and File A Class Action Lawsuit Related to a Judiciary Case Search

Because of the caliber of people you are up against, it is advisable to hire a professional class action attorney. The case is complex.  It is also usually against wealthy defendants who can maneuver their way through the claims. Someone with little or no legal experience is bound to fail woefully in such cases.

Most Common Class Action Lawsuits

1. Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores

A class lawsuit was filed in 2000 by a female employee who was denied promotion.  This was despite several years of excellent work. From her complaint, evidence was gathered that the retail shop has denied several other female employees promotion because of their gender. The plaintiff is suing Wal-Mart for sexual discrimination.  They are seeking the sum of 11 billion USD on behalf of every female employee from 1998 onwards.

2. Illinois Sunrise Employees vs. Sunrise Senior Living Management Inc.

Employees at Sunrise Senior Living Management Inc. have filed a class action lawsuit against their employer.  This was on the grounds that the Kronos system used to track timekeeping could expose them to identity theft should the data be breached. According to the claim, compelling workers to clock in and out violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The class members include current and former employees who worked at the firm from Nov. 14, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2017. Each employee stands a chance to claim a potential award of $25 or $75.  This depends on the date of employment.

3. Enron Securities Fraud

A class action lawsuit was filed in 2008 against Enron.  Enron is an energy trading company.  They were caught defrauding shareholders prior to declaring bankruptcy. The lead plaintiff, University of California, filed for a $7.2 billion settlement.  This would be distributed among 1.5 million individuals and institutional investors with the lead plaintiff and Citigroup claiming about 2 billion USD. Former executives of the company, Jeffery Skilling and Kenneth Lay, were convicted for the roles they played in the scandal.

4. Investors vs. Cendant

A class action lawsuit was filed against Cendant for securities fraud. This followed the discovery that the executives of the company for 10 years have been fraudulently overstating its income by up to 5oo million USD. Members of the class action lawsuit include all investors who held stock in the company from May 31, 1995 through August 28, 1991. The discovery drove investors away leading to the collapse in the value of the company. The former Vice Chairman, Kirk Shelton was ordered to pay Cendant a sum of 3.27 billion USD at a monthly rate of 2, 000 USD. This is in addition to being sentenced to jail.

5. Montana Allstate Car Insurance Class Settlement

Several Allstate entities have agreed to pay the agreed upon amount as settlement for the class action lawsuit filed by the policyholder against the insurance company. The case was filed on the grounds that the insurance company wrongly collected subrogation from policyholders.  This was even when they had no right to do so.

Insurance companies usually reserve the right to sue a third party who caused an insurance loss. Should an insured car be involved in an accident caused by the other driver, the insurance company reserves the right to sue the faulty driver and recover subrogation to supplement the losses incurred. However, in this case, the plaintiffs claim that the company failed to conduct intensive investigations to ascertain whether or not the subrogation recovered would be enough to cover the policyholder’s losses.

Although they didn’t deny or admit the claims, they agreed to pay a sum of 2.6 million USD as settlement for the lawsuit. Members of the class include consumers who hold auto insurance with the company from October 21, 2008. Each member of the class stands the chance to claim 30% of the amount the company subrogated to an individual’s claim.

How Do I Join A Class Action Lawsuit?

Class members are usually selected automatically because most class action lawsuits are opt-out cases. This means that everyone affected by the action is automatically included in the class unless they state otherwise by opting out of the class. So, you do not have to do anything to join a class action lawsuit.  Although, you will need to submit a claim online. Check the class notice for more details. For opt-in cases, on the other hand, each member is required to elect to participate in the lawsuit. This usually applies to wage and hour violation lawsuits.

Where Do I Find A Class Action Lawsuit To Join?

As I mentioned earlier, you do not have to do anything to join a class action lawsuit. Members of the class are usually notified via email. In cases where you feel you should be a part of a class action lawsuit, the best place to search is the internet. Attorneys usually create web pages for the class action lawsuit.

How Do I Do a Judiciary Case Search?

Judiciary case searches are available to the general public through an electronic system dubbed PACER. The Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system allows anyone with an account to search and locate judiciary cases such as appellate, bankruptcy, and district court cases and docket information.

You could also access these files from the public access terminals in the clerk’s office of your local court where the case was filed.