hi there i'm james preston and thanks for tuning in to calkin media by now pay letter
giant after pay could potentially be in serious hot water and i'll tell you why in just a moment
but first please make sure to subscribe to the channel and press the bell icon to be
notified of the latest videos on tuesday it was reported that australian fintech giant afterpay
is facing a proposed class action complaint filed in the u.s northern district court of california
by two u.s law firms the claim alleges that the company's marketing team is misleading consumers
over the fees that they can incur with their banks and is reportedly seeking a restitution of
all paid fees being repaid punitive damages and actual damages the suit also seeks an
injunction on behalf of the general public to prevent afterpay from continuing to engage in
its illegal practices according to the lawsuit immediately after the news broke
the company's shares erased most of the gains it had made in the morning trade
the shares of the company tumbled 1.65 from an intraday high erasing 1.78 of the early
morning gains however the shares partially recovered by the time of filling this copy
the issue brings into spotlight the class action suits a common thing for the companies in the us
until now there have been 46 492 class action suits in the us of which 2611 have been settled
leading to settlements worth over us 105.14 billion dollars the south district of new york
is the most active court on this front according to stanford university so let's take a look at
what a class action consists of a class action which can also be called a representative action
is a legal option that permits one or more parties to file or prosecute a lawsuit on behalf of a
larger group of parties or what is referred to as a class for example a company may produce a skin
care product that contains ingredients that then harms consumers consumers of this product could
then be grouped together to launch a joint action against the company due to the adverse effects of
using the product a class action often puts height and pressure on a company and it's an efficient
way for legal practitioners to bring multiple claims to court relating to the same issue
so why are class actions important class action lawsuits are usually considered as an important
part of the legal system as they permit the fair and efficient resolution of claims of multiple
parties by allowing the claims to be bundled into a single action against a defending party that has
allegedly caused harm it reduces the logistics associated with the case for all the parties
involved so what are the pros of a class action suit the class action suit provides restitution
to aggrieved parties who might have otherwise received nothing because of attorney costs
the move also helps to reduce the cases clogging the court system along with reducing the cost
associated with it and thus it enables a speedy delivery of justice the move also brings equality
in delivery of justice as it ensures that people with similar injuries are treated similarly which
they might not have been able to do individually it also motivates defendants to settle the case
with plaintiffs since there are many plaintiffs involved and because of a social cost so are
there any cons associated with a class action suit the answer is yes many of them primarily
the aggrieved parties may end up receiving a very small award while attorneys earn very large
fees the case may also take longer than usual to settle because of the complex processes involved
the quality of the legal representation or simply put the lawyers impacts many plaintiffs at one
point which would not have happened had they filed the case individually also as has happened many
times the law firms may end up exploiting the plaintiffs for their own fame and monetary gain
plaintiffs also give up the right to sue the defendant individually so is it worth being
involved in a class lawsuit in short yes class lawsuits can still be very beneficial for class
members or the parties involved in the case in which a single action has been decided against the
defendant it only takes the filing of a claim form and potentially providing documentation in order
to be able to recover benefits from a class action settlement the move can allow a plaintiff or the
aggrieved parties to recover up to thousands of dollars worth of compensation without having to
run from pillar to post to do so if you've enjoyed the information contained in this video then make
sure to like share and comment on the video and of course subscribe to the channel and press the bell
icon to be notified of the latest videos from cowkin for more information and regular updates
please head to the website cowkinmedia.com i'm james preston for kalkine media
you