Class Actions

The United States was the first and remains one of the only legal systems to have provide a litigation remedy for a class of people, as opposed to individual plaintiffs.  The rationale behind the rule is that there are some economic injuries that touch on a large number of individuals, but the amounts involved are too small to justify legal representation for the individual.  For instance, if a telephone company were to overcharge each of its 10 million customers by a dollar per month, the individuals would have little incentive or power to challenge the charge.  As a group, however, they would have the power to convince the company to cease its wrong conduct.  The class action is the vehicle by which this case could be brought. 

At Lochner and Schwenk, LLC we presently have two class actions filed.  The first was against Home Depot, Inc and its related credit card issuer: the second is against the City of Baltimore and the company that runs its red-light camera system.  In the Home Depot matter, it was alleged that the defendants were inappropriately crediting payments on the credit card, thereby denying consumers the benefits of "interest free" promotional purchases.  In Baltimore City, it is alleged that tickets are being issued for red light violations that the City and its corporate partner know are not legitimate violations.  In both cases, the losses to individuals are not that great, but the profits to the companies are very large. 

If you have you been overcharged by a company, and it is possible that they have overcharged others in a similar way, you may have an important case.  We would be glad to evaluate your claim.  In the event that we decide that a class action is appropriate, if you are one of the plaintiffs, you may be entitled to incentive payments that are significantly above amounts that you have actually lost.  You may also achieve the impossible: stopping a major company from abusive consumer practices.