The Rise of Class Action Lawsuits - Daniel Chammas

Over the years we have seen a rise in class action lawsuits. Why the sudden increase? In part, it's because consumer-fraud class actions are relatively easy to file. There is a great deal of information available to the public from which one can generate ideas for cases. The Internet provides many opportunities for consumers to complain and to join communities of those with similar complaints. As soon as the Federal Trade Commission releases a new complaint or consent decree, plaintiffs' lawyers pick it up and quickly file class actions mimicking the allegations.

So what is a class action lawsuit? A class action is a particular type of lawsuit in which the claims of many people are decided in a single case. The leading lawyers pick specific plaintiffs who are named in the class action lawsuit to assert the claims of the entire class, so that separate complaints or injuries don’t have to be filed separately. A typical class action complaint usually involves a situation where a large group of people is injured by the same conduct.

Class Actions are broken up into three areas: employment class action lawsuits, consumer products and securities class actions. Employment class actions usually deal with employees of a large company who form claims ranging from workplace discrimination to wage discrepancies. Consumer class actions usually deal with products sold or offered to the public. A securities class action is typically brought on behalf of a group of investors who have lost money as a result of a company's improper conduct, such as concealing or misrepresenting risks, misstating earnings, or otherwise engaging in fraudulent activity.

Daniel Chammas is a highly-skilled litigator with extensive experience defending companies against class actions, particularly wage and hour and consumer class actions. He is a partner at Venable's Labor and Employment Practice Group, and has litigated and resolved various types of employment disputes, including unpaid wages, claims for wrongful termination, racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and representing management to solve union grievances. Daniel Chammas focuses his practice on "high stakes" litigation, defeating class certification in "off-the–clock violations," missed breaks, discrimination, employee misclassification, and consumer class actions. He has headed up and prevailed in just under a dozen multi-million dollar class action lawsuits.

Besides being a talented litigator, Daniel Chammas advises clients on an array of employment issues, including leave and disability rules, terminating employees, drafting employee handbooks, and complying with California and federal wage and hour laws.

The Author writes articles for law and business field. He has also contributed to Wikipedia, Squidoo and Hubpages. His articles have been published in print as well as online magazines.