Mass Torts | Class Actions

Civil Litigation Attorneys

Serving clients in Louisiana and nationwide

Generally a mass tort or class action is undertaken when the wrongdoing of large multi-national corporations harm many thousands of consumers or small and mid-sized businesses. The plaintiffs in mass tort and class action suits seek compensation for personal injury and property damage arising from defective consumer products, prescription drugs, medical devices, employment discrimination, pollution, dumping of toxic substances, oil spills, investor fraud, or overcharging consumers for services.

Mass Tort
A mass tort is different from a class action lawsuit. While a class action and a mass tort both combine many legal cases into a single trial, unlike a class action, in a mass tort each plaintiff is treated as an individual with their own individual lawsuit.

Examples of mass tort litigation include claims related to asbestos exposure, defective medical devices, pharmaceutical drugs, shareholder actions and tobacco litigation as well as large scale disasters, such as aviation accidents, industrial explosions, cruise ship and railroad disasters and fires in hotels, apartment or condominium complexes or harm to entire towns communities affected by chemicals, or by products of manufacturing and industrial processes.

Among the most challenging and expensive categories of litigation, when dealing with mass tort suits, lawyers from states throughout the nation often collaborate, sharing the enormous tasks of information compilation, research, analysis of legal issues and responsibilities necessary to achieve positive outcomes for their respective clients.

Class Action
A class action is a case in which one or several individuals or businesses act as class representative(s) and file a claim, typically for money damages, on behalf of thousands of people who have been similarly harmed and who would otherwise have little hope of prevailing alone against a major corporation or institution.
As with mass torts, the process of managing, settling or trying a class action is time-consuming, inherently complicated and expensive. Potential members of a class action may be scattered across a state or the nation. An attempt must be made to notify everyone who purchased the product in question, giving them an opportunity to join the class action or opt out. Case preparation involves investigating, inspecting and testing the product to confirm there is a common defect and identifying the cause of the product’s failure. Developing a mass tort or class action also entails locating and retaining the best technical, scientific and medical experts in the field related to the product or incident that led to the harm of many thousands of individuals. Still, despite the monumental undertaking, mass tort and class action litigation is more efficient, more economical and utilizes far less resources from a judicial standpoint than thousands of separate trials.

 At the Louisiana law firm of Smith Stag, LLC, our attorneys are known for their mass tort and class action casework.  

In addition to oil, radioactive by-product, industrial solvents and chemical and environmental cases, our attorneys also handle pharmaceutical negligence lawsuits, representing clients harmed by prescription drugs, including Vioxx, Fosamax and PPA.

If you have questions about one of Smith Stag’s existing mass tort or class actions, or are interested in forming a new lawsuit, call our office (504) 593-9600 to arrange a consultation to learn how our legal team can help you.