Representing Consumers in Class Action Lawsuits in Georgia
Many people criticize class action lawsuits, saying that lawyers make all of the money and that plaintiffs receive only small check. While there is some truth in this statement, it fails to tell the whole story.
Lawyers do make most of the money in a class action lawsuit. Legal fees usually dwarf the checks that individual plaintiffs receive. However, when a large company steals small amounts of money from thousands or millions of consumers, a class action lawsuit is the only way for those consumers to:
- Obtain compensation for the small amount of money they have lost, and
- Stop the company from stealing from other people in the future
At the law firm of Oates & Courville in Columbus, Georgia, we handle class actions lawsuit on behalf of consumers throughout Georgia. Most of the class actions cases we have handled involved insurance companies or financial institutions that overcharged their customers.
Obtaining Justice for Consumers
Class actions are about stopping companies from engaging in activities that harm consumers. For example, an insurance company in Georgia once sold credit life and disability insurance in connection with car loans. For these policies, the insurance company charged one payment up front for the life of loan. However, when consumers paid off their car loans early, they should have received a partial refund.
The defendant in this class action refused to provide refunds to consumers who paid off their car loans early. For individual consumers, the damages were too small to pursue in court. However, for the insurance company the profits were high: more than $120 million in refunds that were not paid to consumers.
By filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of consumers, attorney Samuel Oates was able to take away the insurance company's ill-gotten gains. Individual consumers received small checks for what they had lost. More importantly, the insurance company was stopped from ripping off consumers in the future.
Free Consultation
For more information about class action lawsuits or to obtain a free case evaluation, call 888-578-7606 or fill out the contact form on this site. Our law office is in Columbus, Georgia.
