Complex Litigation

Complex Litigation Attorneys In New York

Complex litigation includes specific types of complicated civil actions that often involve multiple parties, attorneys, expert witnesses, and jurisdictions, large finances, complex subject matter and legal statutes, and class certifications. Complex litigation services may include working on class-action lawsuits and/or consumer fraud, defective drug, defective medical device, toxic tort, whistleblower, labor law, and business litigation. These types of cases can be particularly difficult to prosecute and take extensive resources and experience, which is why they should be trusted to only the most skilled attorneys. At Parker Waichman LLP, a New York-based personal injury law firm, we have plenty of experience taking on some of the biggest companies and the most complicated litigation and getting results for our clients. If you need help with a situation that could require complex civil litigation, call 1-800-YOUR-LAWYER today to get a free case evaluation.

What Is Complex Civil Litigation?

Complex litigation law deals with cases that involve multiple parties in different jurisdictions, have large amounts of money at stake, and/or deal with complex legal issues that are time-consuming to litigate. Often, complex litigation requires a lot of time and money, and these cases may also draw media attention. Examples of complex legal issues include mass torts and class-action lawsuits.

Class Actions

When an individual seeks justice, it might not seem worthwhile to file a lawsuit, especially if the person’s losses were relatively small or the costs of litigation are likely to be high. But if the person’s issue is shared by many others, a class-action lawsuit might be a better option. A class action is a type of complex case lawsuit in which a large group of plaintiffs is represented collectively by one member of the group. Class actions are most common when the allegations involve a large number of people who have been injured or financially harmed by the same product or action in the same way. Instead of each injured person bringing their own individual lawsuit, a class action allows all of the class members’ claims to be resolved in a single proceeding; each individual’s claim is essentially the same, and all of them proceed as a group action against the defendant(s).

Class actions are commonly brought for reasons that may impact a large number of individuals. These types of claims may include discrimination, wage and/or hour law disputes, unfair or fraudulent business practices associated with services or defective or dangerous products, including consumer products and vehicles.

Specific certification requirements must be met and the court must certify the class. How a case is handled depends on federal or state law and the subject matter; federal procedure differs slightly from various states’ rules and many states follow what has been set forth in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which provide that:

• There must be a sufficient number of potential claimants that it would be unreasonable to bring them all into court at once as named plaintiffs.
• Common questions of law or fact must be shared among all of the claims, meaning that they are based on the same alleged error or wrongdoing.
• The claims made by the class representatives must be substantially the same or similar as those of the rest of the parties to the class action.
• Class representatives must provide fair and adequate protection for the class. At this point, the lawyers representing the class will be scrutinized as well.

Once the class action has been certified, all potential class members are notified of the class-action lawsuit. Class members may choose to opt out of the class, which means that they will no longer be part of the class action, will not receive any agreed-upon settlement, and will not be bound by any resolution of the involved claims, including if the case was dismissed. These individuals may still file their own lawsuits against the defendant(s).

Should class action lawsuit settlements be discussed, the court must approve any agreed-upon settlement between the class representatives and counsel and the defendant(s). Class members must be notified that a settlement has been reached and given details about the settlement and class members’ right to object.

Other names for legal actions taken by numerous people who allege similar losses or harm include “mass tort litigations,” “multidistrict litigations” (MDLs), and “multi-county litigations.” All of these involve slightly different legal actions and processes. Mass tort allegations typically involve drug recalls or alleged defects, medical device recalls or alleged defects, and significant catastrophes. Cases are handled in the federal justice system and are organized together in an MDL in front of one federal judge, or cases are handled as a multicounty litigation in front of one state judge. MDLs and multicounty litigations are types of mass tort actions. Consolidation enables complex litigation to be handled more efficiently.

At Parker Waichman, our New York class-action lawyers have decades of experience with mass tort litigations of all types, and we’d be glad to answer your questions about filing a class action lawsuit.