In 2006, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) became law. The primary purposes of the Act was to assure fair and prompt recoveries of legitimate claims, to establish more liberal procedural requirements and to set forth new standards for class action settlements. In general, the class action rule is in effect to improve the legal system's effectiveness by permitting large groups of people with similar claims to join together into a single lawsuit.

These large groups can be comprised of consumers, small businesses or injured people. One or more of the affected then represents the harmed group in court, and if those representatives meet specific criteria, they are granted permission to prove and settle not only their own claims, but also the claims of each individual of the larger affected group as well.

Antitrust Claims

Antitrust actions are typically brought when consumers suffer financial losses because products and services are illegally overpriced. This overpricing can occur due to companies fixing prices at artificial levels to secure higher profits and/or to force out competition, forming agreements that allocate markets or customers among competitors to eliminate or reduce competition and through bid rigging.

Consumer Actions

Consumer class actions are generally brought when consumers are injured by a company's systematic and illegal practices. Examples include illegal charges on bills, illegal penalties for late-payments, and failure to comply with consumer protection laws.

Consumer Product Claims

Legal actions are often brought about because of defective products that cause harm or injury to large numbers of individuals due to faulty labeling, design defects or defective manufacturing. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer, designer, distributor, or retailer to ensure that the product does not cause harm and they can be held liable.

Breach of Warranty

Warranties on personal items, appliances, automotives and many other consumer products exist to protect consumers regardless of whether the product specifically states the coverage. When this assurance is false or the quality is misstated class action lawsuits are often brought against the liable party.

Employment Claims

Employment class action lawsuits are typically brought on behalf of employees of a large company for claims ranging from systematic workplace discrimination, illegal hiring and promotion practices, wrongful termination policies and practices, unpaid unemployment benefits and unpaid overtime.

Employee Benefits

These class actions by employees of a single employer generally address violations of Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and involve discriminatory practices or violations in employers plan design. Additionally, some health plan benefit payments may be considered illegal because of discrimination laws.

Insurance Claims

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