1. What is a class action?A class action is a representative lawsuit which allows one person or entity to initiate a lawsuit on behalf of other persons or entities who are in the same or similar circumstances with respect to a given defendant. A class action is appropriate when many people have been affected by a company's course of conduct in a similar fashion. 2. What is a class period?A class period is the period of time in which a company is alleged to have been engaged in improper conduct. The attorneys investigating and prosecuting the case will review the facts of the case and determine when the class period begins and ends. Sometimes, after an initial complaint is filed, a class period will be lengthened or shortened. If you purchased the securities of a company during a class period, you are automatically considered a class member, even if you do not retain a law firm to prosecute claims on your behalf. This "class membership" idea is also true with respect to consumer fraud class actions and antitrust class actions. For example, if you purchased goods from a company that was accused of improper marketing practices during the relevant period of time (the class period), you would be a member of the class for a consumer fraud class action, even if you did not personally retain an attorney. 3. What is a lead plaintiff?A lead plaintiff, sometimes referred to as a named plaintiff, is appointed by the court within 60 days of the publication of a notice of the pendency of a class action, in actions brought pursuant to the federal securities laws. In class actions brought under state law, the lead plaintiff appointment process varies from state to state, based on the factual circumstances of a given case. Under the federal securities laws, the lead plaintiff is the class member that has been chosen by the court as being the most able to represent the interests of the "absent" class members. Absent class members are people or entities who have not retained an attorney to prosecute claims on their own behalf. In addition, under the federal securities laws, there is a statutory presumption that the investor, or investors, with the largest financial losses during the class period should presumptively be considered the "most adequate" candidate(s) to serve as lead plaintiff(s) on behalf of the class. Courts appoint individuals, groups, or institutional investors as lead plaintiffs as the circumstances of each individual case may dictate. The lead plaintiff(s) select and retain counsel to represent the class and these attorneys are known as lead counsel or class counsel. 4. How long does it take to prosecute a class action?The time for each individual case to come to a close is very fact specific, and varies widely from case-to-case. Typically, a class action will take between 1 to 4 years to complete. 5. What is contingency fee litigation?Contingency fee litigation refers to situations where attorneys only get paid if they win the case at trial or the action settles. Attorneys that practice contingency fee litigation do not receive any form of monetary payment from a client to begin working on a case. That is, the attorney's fee is contingent on a successful outcome. All cases handled by Emerson Poynter LLP are done on a contingency fee basis. 6. What will it cost to be involved in a class action?Because Emerson Poynter LLP prosecutes class actions on a contingency fee basis, there will be no out-of-pocket fees for you, regardless of the outcome of the case. If we are successful in obtaining a recovery for the class, we will seek to be awarded fees from the court. Usually, attorney's fees are awarded as a percentage of the relief achieved by the attorneys for the class. These percentages vary considerably based on the size of the recovery for the class, the length and complexity of the litigation, and several other factors. After weighing these factors, the court will determine what is a fair and reasonable fee. 7. Will my market loss equal my damages?Damages are a complex legal calculation that may or may not equal your market loss, which is a purely economic calculation. To establish damages in securities class actions, lead counsel will hire experts to calculate the monetary amount that a defendant company's stock was artificially inflated during the class period. Essentially, the experts will attempt to determine at what price the company's stock would have traded at during the class period, absent the defendants' improper conduct. The reason that experts are hired for this calculation is because there may have been other factors which caused the company's stock price to decline other than the alleged fraud and this is the reason why your damages may not necessarily equal market loss. 8. Do I have to have to keep my stock to participate in a securities class action?No. As long as you purchased during the class period, you can participate in any recovery that the class enjoys, even if you sell the stock after the class period ends. 9. Why should I sign up with Emerson Poynter?The attorneys at Emerson Poynter LLP have specialized in class action litigation for over fifteen years, and have represented a variety of shareholders, from small individual investors to large institutional investors in an effort to recover losses due to fraud or other misconduct. The Firm has been chosen by many courts throughout the country to serve as lead counsel or co-lead counsel in numerous class actions across the country. |
