Most Americans Surveyed Favor Reform of the Class Action System
6 June 2000
Most Americans Surveyed Favor Reform of the Class Action System MALVERN, Penn. - The majority of respondents to a recent Insurance Research
Council survey of U.S. households support changes in the way that class action
lawsuits are handled. Seventy percent of survey respondents agreed that
significant reform of the class action lawsuit system is needed.
Class action lawsuits are legal actions filed by a few individuals on
behalf of a large number of people who together attempt to obtain a legal
remedy for some alleged wrong. Two common examples of class actions are
consumer class actions (in which the plaintiffs contend that a business has
engaged in fraudulent business practices) and mass tort class actions (in
which the plaintiffs allege that the defendant has caused them personal injury
or property damage).
Forty-four percent of respondents in IRC's recent survey said that the
number of class action lawsuits today is too high. Only six percent said that
the number is too low. Similarly, 41 percent of respondents said that the
average size of awards in class action lawsuits is too large, while only
10 percent said that awards are too low.
The survey revealed an interesting dichotomy in the public's views of
class action lawsuits. Most respondents (76 percent) agreed that class action
lawsuits give average people the ability to act against big corporations with
large legal resources. Interestingly, however, nearly as many respondents
(73 percent) believe that class action lawsuits generate a lot of money in
legal fees but produce little monetary benefit for the people suing.
"Americans have mixed views about class action lawsuits," according to
Elizabeth A. Sprinkel, senior vice president who heads the IRC. "While they
show concern about individuals' ability to seek compensation from large
organizations, they worry about the number and size of awards of class action
lawsuits as well as the share of settlements that attorneys claim."
The results contained in IRC's recently released report, Public Attitude
Monitor 2000, Issue 1, were based on a survey conducted by Roper Starch
Worldwide. The survey consisted of telephone interviews with 1,000 men and
women 18 years old and older conducted in February 2000. Survey participants
were selected to be representative of the population of the continental U.S.
The survey also addressed attitudes towards third party bad faith lawsuits and
insurance fraud.
For more detailed information on the study's methodology and findings,
contact Elizabeth Sprinkel by phone at (610) 644-2212, ext. 7568; by fax at
(610) 640-5388; or by e-mail at irc@cpcuiia.org. Copies of the study are available at $10 each in the U.S.
($20 elsewhere) postpaid from the Insurance Research Council,
718 Providence Rd., Malvern, Pa. 19355-0725. Phone: (610) 644-2212, ext. 7569.
Fax: (610) 640-5388.
