Class Action Lawsuits   Class action lawsuits are brought when a sizable number of people (the "class") suffer similar injuries due to the actions of a particular defendant, usually a company. In order to proceed as a class action, however, certain criteria must be met. “Certification” is the process by which a judge will decide if a class action is appropriate. Generally, a case will be “certified” if there are similar legal or factual issues and the class is large enough to make... Read More

Audet & Partners, LLP reports that, in what may be the first class action lawsuit of its kind, a California nursing home has settled claims brought on behalf of 305 current and former residents that the hospital overprescribed antipsychotic medication to residents.  The lawsuit brought against the Ventura Convalescent Hospital in 2010 alleged that the facility engaged in the practice of  administering a variety of "extremely dangerous" antipsychotic drugs as an illegal means of chemically restraining seniors.  The facility agreed to pay... Read More

In recent years, there has been a groundswell of misinformation largely designed to dissuade individual consumers from joining together to bring class action lawsuits against large corporations based on various issues including consumer fraud, illegal bank lending practices, personal injuries resulting from defective products, and similar theories. The truth is that it is only through class action lawsuits that many larger corporations, product manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, etc., are motivated to modify their practices in a way that protects ordinary consumers from... Read More