Class actions are lawsuits where one or more investors serve as the representative plaintiffs on behalf of a large group of investors that each purchased the same securities and suffered losses as a result of the same false statements or misconduct.  Class actions allow a court to decide the claims of many investors in a single lawsuit. This promotes efficiency, economy, and extends justice to investors whose claims are not large enough to merit an individual lawsuit.

This is the time period during which investors purchased securities in the company that is the subject of the class action.  Typically, the false statements or fraud begin on the first day of the class period and the full truth about the false statements or fraud is revealed on the last day of the class period.

A lead plaintiff is an investor that wishes to serve as a representative plaintiff in the class action on behalf of all the other investors that purchased securities during the Class Period.

The Lead Plaintiff’s role is to oversee the litigation with the assistance and advice of the class’s attorneys. Both the Lead Plaintiff and the class’s attorneys must direct the litigation for the benefit of the class foremost. Ultimately, it is the job of the Lead Plaintiff to decide what is a fair settlement amount for the Class and to approve any settlement offer.

Lead Counsel are the Class’s attorneys.  The Lead Plaintiff selects the Lead Counsel.  Lead Counsel should have extensive experience prosecuting securities class actions if they are to effectively represent investors in a securities class action. 

If the amount of your losses in the investment are significant to you, being a lead plaintiff allows you to be involved in the case and oversee important decisions in the litigation, particularly the amount of any settlement for investors.

Class action lawsuits often are filed when it would be impractical or prohibitively expensive for each person who was harmed to file an individual lawsuit, and they enable small shareholders or consumers to seek recovery from large corporations possessing much greater legal and financial resources. Generally, securities class actions are filed in the Federal District Courts and allege that the defendant(s) violated the Securities Act of 1933 and/or the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The typical class action takes at least 2-3 years to litigate, although the actual time it takes to resolve a case varies, depending on the complexity of the case, the issues involved, and other factors.

You can complete the online certification form on our website or at your request, we will email you a form to complete and you can send it back to us.

You do not pay any legal fees, costs or expenses. The Court will award the Lead Counsel any legal fees, costs or expenses from the money they recover for the class. If Lead Counsel doesn’t recover any money for the class, Lead Counsel doesn’t get paid any legal fees, costs or expenses.