Collective claims are a key way to ensure large and complex cases can be litigated effectively. Somos has worked in this field since 2019, gaining a thorough understanding of how it all works. It goes without saying that different jurisdictions have different processes and rules when it comes to these types of cases, yet these cases can usually be divided between opt-in and opt-out claims.
These are claims in which an individual or a business must actively choose to join legal proceedings rather than being automatically included. True to its name, potential claimants need to opt in to be part of the litigation and to benefit from a successful award, for example. Although each person needs to file their statement of claim at the start of the proceedings, there are procedural mechanisms that ensure the claims are managed together and efficiently.
In contrast, in opt-out claims, individuals or businesses are automatically included in the legal proceedings unless they actively decide to opt out of them. This type of case is referred to as class actions in the US or representative actions in the UK and has that name because the case is litigated by a single litigant (the class representative) on behalf of a class of people who have been affected by the same harm. The result of those proceedings will affect all the members of the class who have not opted out.
There are also variations of these two models. Brazil is a good example. Collective claims in Brazil are usually litigated by means of legal proceedings that are conducted during the liability phase as opt-out ones, which means that the finding of liability will affect the entirety of the cohort of potential claimants, but shifts into an opt-in model when it comes to the quantum and enforcement phase, with each claimant having to come forward and actively engage in the proceedings in order to receive compensation.
By working through a range of collective claims, we developed a deep understanding of firms’ needs across all types of cases. That is what allowed Somos to develop a variety of tools that can be useful throughout the whole lifecycle of a claim, or even in a specific need. These solutions were crucial to aggregate hundreds of thousands claimants to an environmental disaster case in Brazil, to help clients provide the right proofs for a medical case in the US or even to manage the distribution of an automaker settlement in the UK.
Whether your case requires comprehensive support or you simply need to resolve a particular issue, follow the lead of over one million claimants – talk to us.