Are class action lawsuits really that beneficial?

Asked by AshlynM (10684

) August 15th, 2012

Currently, Netflix’s latest lawsuit involves 2 lead plaintiffs. The only people getting paid in this class action lawsuit are the plaintiffs and the lawyers. The other members of the suit are getting zilch. I myself received a notice in my inbox about this lawsuit and I just shrugged it off, chalking it up as just another money grab.
Usually, members of a class action lawsuit get paid next to nothing, if even that. So why make it into a class action lawsuit, get peoples’ hopes up about getting paid big money, and then having their hopes dashed by them receiving a check in the mail for 50 cents? Shouldn’t these plaintiffs have just sued Netflix on their own without making it into a huge thing?
Basically, the only people who benefit from these class action lawsuits are the ones who initiated it and the lawyers. Do class action lawsuits mean more money for the plaintiffs than a normal lawsuit involving a big company?

What are your thoughts on the subject?

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6 Answers

They really are for consumers. Say one product goes wrong, chances are that many others have bought the same product. So class action law suits is more like one particular consumer raising hell on behalf of others.

_Whitetigress (4378

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In the last 18 months, I received mailings for class actions about a life insurance company and a phone company. I opted in, and in the end I got two checks adding to over $300. So I’m happy.

janedelila (3914

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If the actions are fully successful, then they’re usually about 67% beneficial to the plaintiffs.

I was a plaintiff in a class action suit and I recovered that percentage of my loss. The legal firm that represented us got the other 33%.

Brian1946 (32638

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If the lawyer doesn’t fuck up, as was the case in the 1980s class-action suit by residents of Woburn MA. A Civil Action is a 1996 work of non-fiction by Jonathan Harr depicting the water contamination case in Woburn..

anartist (14813

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