Mass tort cases entail economic losses or bodily harm suffered by huge numbers of people.
Typically, several people will file lawsuits against just one or a small number of defendants.
These are frequently bigger companies or corporations whose deeds have harmed the community.
In certain situations, the losses and injuries may be exceedingly serious, leading to awards of relatively significant damages. Although they must be divided among the plaintiffs, mass tort actions typically have a positive recovery rate for damages. Some mass tort cases are filed as class actions depending on the situation.
Many mass tort lawsuits aim to hold big businesses and corporations accountable for harm to the general public. Some states have capped the amount of damages that a party can receive in a personal injury lawsuit, particularly those involving punitive damages for medical negligence because the damages awards in such circumstances are frequently absurdly high. However, in mass tort litigation, plaintiffs typically get a reasonable settlement.
What Kinds of Crimes Qualify as Mass Torts?
Three main categories of torts are frequently included in mass torts. These consist of:
The possibility for a huge number of people to be at risk simultaneously across a vast geographic area is a common feature of most mass tort claims. For instance, there could be a lot of accidents if the corporation negligently distributes hazardous goods over the whole state.
Which Personal Injury Types Frequently Arise in Mass Litigation?
The majority of personal injury claims in mass tort action involve:
- Defective products or product recalls, particularly auto recalls
- Water, food, and beverage-related illnesses
- Cigarette injuries
- Surgically inserted medicinal devices and cosmetic implants
- Other hazardous exposure torts and asbestos claims
- Breaches of the health code
Mass litigation laws might apply to a wide range of additional personal injury claims. These will, of course, depend on the kind of injuries sustained as well as the state’s personal injury legislation.
What Sort of Compensation Can a Mass Tort Lawsuit Produce?
In mass tort litigation, damages may include:
- Awards of financial compensation for injury to victims
- Refunds or exchanges for products
- Modifications to municipal or state safety and health laws
Larger companies typically desire to minimize their exposure to liabilities. Therefore, if they determine that a product may pose a risk, they will often issue a recall for it. To determine if you have been impacted by a recalled or defective product, you can check a number of listings. If you’ve been hurt by a product or another scenario, you might want to consult a lawyer.
How Do I Proceed If I Think I Have a Mass Tort Claim?
The majority of claims in mass tort litigation are quite complex. The best way to handle them is with the professional guidance of an experienced personal injury attorney.
You should follow these measures if you were hurt in a case that seems to involve a lot of mass tort claims:
- Gather any paperwork or records that may be relevant to your injuries, such as medical bills, prescription receipts, and pay stubs, to demonstrate missed wages.
- Observe all details concerning witnesses and their testimonies.
You might want to communicate with others who could have been harmed by the same thing but keep any information you learn from them to yourself without your lawyer’s permission.
What Are the Differences Between Class Action Lawsuits And Mass Tort Claims?
The same defendant or a group of the same defendants may be the target of multiple lawsuits that have been joined together. In an effort to limit the number of lawsuits, this is done so that the court can hear the cases without having several cases against the same individuals pending at once.
Despite the names class action and mass tort litigation, there are significant distinctions between the two.
The following qualities are shared by both class actions and mass tort lawsuits:
- They involve multiple plaintiffs, and the same defendants are being sued by all of the plaintiffs, and
- The lawsuits are consolidated to lessen the number of cases the court must hear.
The way that they are handled by the court, as well as the injury or injuries that the plaintiffs sustained, would be the defining differences between the two. To restate, mass tort lawsuits involve numerous plaintiffs with various injuries, whereas class action lawsuits involve numerous plaintiffs with the same damage.
Various defendants, such as pharmaceutical corporations that provide medications or a cell phone company that overcharged its customers, are involved in class action litigation.
An illustration of this would be if fifty persons received the same medication from the same manufacturer, all of them suffered the same damage as a result of the medication. A class action lawsuit can be filed against the drug maker; the important thing is that all of the plaintiffs have the same injury caused by the same medication in common.
Instead of bringing separate lawsuits against the drug maker, the fifty individuals who were harmed by the medication may band together to launch one lawsuit. The entire class would be considered one plaintiff, and a class representative would be chosen.
As was already indicated, class action lawsuits must fulfill certain requirements. Anyone who might have suffered the same harm as the other members of the class will be informed, typically by letter, about the complaint, how to participate in the litigation, and their legal rights.
Even though the same defendant or defendants have caused the plaintiffs’ injuries, mass tort cases differ from class action lawsuits in that the plaintiffs’ injuries may not all be the same.
Each plaintiff must still establish their facts and any harm the defendant brings.
A mass tort case may be preferable to a class action if the fifty individuals were all administered the same drug produced by the same corporation and each suffered an injury as a result of the drug, but the injuries were all unique. The plaintiffs cannot be categorized into “classes” as they can in a class action lawsuit when they have different types of injuries.
Mass tort cases differ from class action lawsuits in that each plaintiff must establish the following elements:
- The facts of their case.
- The causation of their injuries by the defendant or defendants.
- The extent to which they are entitled to monetary damages for their losses.
This is distinct from a class action lawsuit, where the selected representative is tasked with establishing the facts, the victims’ harm, and the necessity for compensation on behalf of the entire group of people.
Do I Require Legal Counsel to Help in a Mass Tort Lawsuit?
Due to the severity of the injuries and the vast number of parties involved, mass tort litigation can be exceedingly complicated. You might choose to engage a tort lawyer if you need assistance with mass tort difficulties. You can get the legal counsel and assistance you need from your lawyer to win a mass tort lawsuit. Additionally, your lawyer can handle any additional issues you may have or disagreements you may have.
You can use LegalMatch to find the right lawyer in your area for your mass tort needs today.
