Glossary
A lawsuit in which one or more named plaintiffs sue on behalf of a class of similarly situated persons under Federal Rule 23.
A class action is a procedural device under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, and analogous state rules, that allows one or more representative plaintiffs to sue on behalf of a defined class of similarly situated persons. Rule 23 requires numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation, plus one of three additional prerequisites in Rule 23(b). Class actions differ from mass torts in that individual class members generally do not control their own claims and receive identical or formulaic recoveries upon settlement or judgment.