Class Action Litigation

A class action lawsuit consolidates similar or identical claims of many people into a single lawsuit against one or several defendants. Class actions are cost effective ways of resolving many legal disputes that have a lot in common.

OLC Involved Class Actions

Outside Legal Counsel PLC serves as lead or co-counsel to various pending or putative class actions around Michigan.

Representative class action cases include:

• The Tire Chalking Case - Taylor v City of Saginaw
  • Lose the Chalk, Officer: Court Finds Marking Tires of Parked Cars Unconstitutional - NY Times
  • Federal appeals court says tire-chalking by parking enforcement officers is unconstitutional - Washington Post
  • Court Says Using Chalk On Tires For Parking Enforcement Violates Constitution - NPR
• Property Tax Excess Equity Cases - Various Courts
  • 80 of Michigan's 83 counties are getting sued over tax foreclosure surpluses - NPR
  • Michigan Tax Foreclosure Website

How Do Class Actions Work?

In a typical class action, a plaintiff sues a defendant or a number of defendants on behalf of a group, or class, of absent parties. This differs from a traditional lawsuit, where one party sues another party for redress of a wrong, and all of the parties are present in court. Instead of each person bringing his or her own lawsuit, the class action allows all the claims of all class members—whether they know they have been damaged or not—to be resolved in a single proceeding through the efforts of the representative plaintiff(s) and appointed class counsel.

A class action attorney helps initiate and handle a class action, and advocates for the Class and argues against the sued governments and their officials in court. Class action attorneys are generally paid a percentage of the money that is recovered on behalf of the Class. Some lawsuits that involve civil rights will require the government to pay all or some of the attorneys' fees due to their illegal actions. All attorney fees must be reviewed and approved by the court.

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