The oldest predecessor to the class-action rule in the United States was in the Federal Equity Rules, specifically Equity Rule 48, promulgated in 1842. : 219–20 However, Story did not necessarily endorse class actions, because he "could not conceive of a modern function or a coherent theory for representative litigation." : 219–20 : 210–12 Group litigation was essentially dead in the United Kingdom after 1850.Ĭlass actions survived in the United States thanks to the influence of Supreme Court Associate Justice Joseph Story, who imported it into US law through summary discussions in his two equity treatises as well as his opinion in West v. : 210–12 It was further weakened by the fact that equity pleading, in general, was falling into disfavor, which culminated in the Judicature Acts of 18. : 125–32īy 1850, Parliament had enacted several statutes on a case-by-case basis to deal with issues regularly faced by certain types of organizations, like joint-stock companies, and with the impetus for most types of group litigation removed, it went into a steep decline in English jurisprudence from which it never recovered. : 124–25 The tumultuous history of the Wars of the Roses and then the Star Chamber resulted in periods during which the common law courts were frequently paralyzed, and out of the confusion the Court of Chancery emerged with exclusive jurisdiction over group litigation. : 100 The development of the concept of the corporation led to the wealthy supporters of the corporate form becoming suspicious of all unincorporated legal entities, which in turn led to the modern concept of the unincorporated or voluntary association. : 38–40Įngraving of the Star Chamber, published in "Old and new London" in 1873, taken from a drawing made in 1836įrom 1400 to 1700, group litigation gradually switched from being the norm in England to the exception. Unlike modern courts, the medieval English courts did not question the right of the actual plaintiffs to sue on behalf of a group or a few representatives to defend an entire group. These groups were usually based on existing societal structures like villages, towns, parishes, and guilds.
: 38 These lawsuits involved groups of people either suing or being sued in actions at common law. The antecedent of the class action was what modern observers call "group litigation," which appears to have been quite common in medieval England from about 1200 onward. Instead of each damaged person bringing one's own lawsuit, the class action allows all the claims of all class members-whether they know they have been damaged or not-to be resolved in a single proceeding through the efforts of the representative plaintiff(s) and appointed class counsel. Although standards differ between states and countries, class actions are most common where the allegations usually involve at least 40 people who the same defendant has injured in the same way. This differs from a traditional lawsuit, where one party sues another party, and all of the parties are present in court. In a typical class action, a plaintiff sues a defendant or a number of defendants on behalf of a group, or class, of absent parties. Delict (term used for torts in some civil and mixed legal systems).Negligent infliction of emotional distress.Intentional infliction of emotional distress.
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