Why a class action? Often, consumers have legal claims that are too small dollar-wise to bring on an individual basis. Class actions allow consumers to combine their small claims in one lawsuit. Thus, class actions are the vehicle by which small claims can be economically pursued in a manageable way.
A mass tort is a single tort that results in an injury to many victims usually caused by a common defendant or by a single common product. Unlike a class action, each plaintiff represents his own interest. If a court determines that the cases should be a mass tort action, then the cases are often consolidated as a multi-district litigation.
The lawyers at Barrett Law Group, P.A. are experienced class action litigators and mass tort litigators who have held leadership roles in numerous class actions and multi-district litigations around the country, examples of which include national class actions involving insurance charges, cable television late fee charges, and antitrust allegations.
For example, Don Barrett was lead counsel for the plaintiffs in Cox v. Shell Oil Co., et al, in the state court in Tennessee, a class action case concerning defective home plumbing systems; this case resulted in a nation-wide settlement in November, 1995, of approximately $1.1 billion, by far the largest property-damage settlement ever achieved in this country. As a result of the Cox litigation, on July 22, 1997, Mr. Barrett was awarded the Public Justice Achievement Award by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Foundation “in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the public interest.”
In the Summer of 2001, Mr. Barrett was named by Judge Kathleen O’Malley, U.S.D.C., Northern District of Ohio, to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In Re: Inter-Op Hip Prosthesis Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1401, and he was a principal negotiator for the plaintiff class for a $1.045 billion settlement reached with defendants, which settlement was finally approved by Judge O’Malley on May 22, 2002.
Richard Barrett was one of the primary trial attorneys for the Tamraz v. Lincoln Electric, et al, Welding Fume MDL 1535, Mr. Barrett received the largest verdict against the welding industry in history. The total amount of the award to Jeff and Terry Tamraz was $20.5 million. Similarly, on March 7, 2008, in Jowers v. Lincoln Electric, et al, Welding Fume MDL 1535, Mr. Barrett received a verdict for $2.9 million against the same welding consumable manufacturers. Importantly, this was the first time in history that these defendants were ever ordered to pay punitive damages for brain injury from welding fumes.
If you have a claim that you think is suitable for a class action, please give us a call at (662) 834-2488.