Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers | April 11, 2025 | Personal Injury
Class action lawsuits take anywhere from several months to several years, all depending on several factors, including the size of the lawsuit, the amount of evidence, negotiations for settlements, and the court’s availability. Understanding how to take part in a class action lawsuit should be discussed with an experienced class action lawyer.
Class Action Lawsuits Involve Many Moving Parts
If you are in a car accident with yourself and one other driver with moderate damage and some minor but annoying injuries, the lawsuit is straightforward with only two parties involved. In a class action lawsuit, however, we would be handling you, plus several dozen, if not hundreds, of other plaintiffs. The work we put in on one case suddenly multiplies into a mountain of moving parts.
Luckily, due to the nature of class actions focusing on a common claim, we can try to streamline the process of coordinating all of the plaintiffs’ needs by applying the work we do with a core few representative clients to the broader group. This still requires a lot more work than a case with one client, but it is not quite the same as handling hundreds of separate clients. It is more about logistics.
The U.S. Federal Courts established Rule 23, which many states refer to in order to guide class action lawsuits. The only definition of the size of the class laid out here is that there would have to be so many people that “joining all members is impracticable.” Basically, that means that the number of plaintiffs would have to be so high that the courts could not reasonably handle each case by itself.
Gathering Evidence and Handling Discovery Has a Much Higher Volume
One personal injury case may have boxes worth of physical evidence, gigabytes of video, and hours of witness testimony. Once you multiply this by the number of plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit, you can start to see how much time could be added to the whole process. Hopefully, what works for a few clients works for the whole class.
In order to successfully argue a class action lawsuit, we will need to prove that the damages do indeed apply to everyone in the class action case. It can take a while to gather evidence at all, but then we have to check with each plaintiff to confirm that they were harmed in the same way.
Even once we have all the evidence needed, that all then has to go through discovery. This means making sure the defense has all the same materials that we do so that they can prepare a legally adequate defense.
Settlement Negotiations Can Add More Time
Should we win the class action lawsuit, the compensation will then be distributed among the entire class. This will affect how much we fight for total and the way we argue for it. It is not as simple as an insurance company cutting a check to you for your one car accident. This can all also depend on whether we negotiate a settlement or have to go to full trial.
Settlement negotiations can happen on a shorter timeline than a full trial, but they are slightly less structured and could easily get dragged on by a stubborn defense team. Even so, we have more say in the actual process and can directly talk with the defense to come to an agreement more efficiently. Still, a huge part of this will be the added component of negotiating the large dissemination of the payout.
In court, we will have to not only follow the lengthy court trial process, but we will have to follow that same structure to hash out how the winnings are paid out. Do not expect a conclusion for months, at least.
Contact a Class Action Lawyer for a Free Consultation
An experienced class action lawyer can explain the estimated timeline for your individual case. Given the amount of parties, the mountain of evidence examined, and the complexity of negotiations, the process can be lengthy. Do not be discouraged. Reach out for more information.
Contact a Houston Personal Injury Lawyer to Help You With Your Claim
For more information, contact the Houston personal injury law firm of Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers by calling (713) 500-5000.
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