General
A class action is a civil lawsuit commenced by one or more persons on his, her, or their own behalf, which seeks to include others who have suffered a similar harm at the hands of the same person, company or group.
A court is then asked to decide whether or not the lawsuit meets certain legal criteria and to be certified as a class action on behalf of a group of people.
Once a class action is certified, it allows a group of people to have access to the court in situations where the case would be too expensive or too complex for one person to sue on his or her own.
In Ontario, class actions are governed by the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 6, as amended. Please click here to review a copy of the Act.
A judge decides whether to permit the lawsuit to proceed as a class action and, if so, who will be included in the group or class.
If the court decides to permit the lawsuit to proceed as a class action, it will appoint one or more persons to act as the representative for the others in the class. The representative will instruct counsel on behalf of the class members.
The court also decides on questions of fact and law which are common to the members of the class. Subsequently, a trial may be held to determine these common issues.
A person who fits within the court's definition of the class is automatically included in the class action unless he or she follows the instructions the court gives on how to be excluded.
All of the members of the class stand to benefit from a successful class action and are not burdened with the expense and inconvenience of starting and prosecuting their own lawsuit.
Individual class members are not personally liable to pay counsel for prosecuting the common issues in the class action nor are they liable to pay any costs if the class action is not successful.
Counsel often agree to prosecute a class action on the basis that they will be paid for their services only if the class action is successful and only from the proceeds of the class action.
Court approval of counsels' fees must be obtained for counsel's fee agreement to be enforceable.