QUESTION
Can I legally be included in a class action lawsuit without my consent?
Asked on Oct 18th, 2012 on Entertainment Law - California
More details to this question:
I received an email addressed to me notifying me that I was included in a class action lawsuit and that my name and address would appear in the documents. They informed me that I had to contact them and provide written notice that I didn't want to be included in order for me to not lose my rights regarding the case. Having my name associated with it would be extremely damaging and could cost me my business, as I work in the same industry (small industry everybody knows everybody else). My questions are as follows: 1: Can they legally include my name and address without my consent? 2: Can they legally void my rights without my consent? 3: Can they leave my name in the case documents if I "opt out"? I will be speaking with a local attorney that represents my company this coming week but wanted to gather as much info as I could before hand and possibly close the matter in the next day or two. Thank you kindly.
1 ANSWER
Susan Marie Basko
You cannot be a named or representative plaintiff unless you agree in writing. Your name and address should not appear in any documents unless you agree to that. If the case becomes certified as a class, then you should be given the option to opt-out from being included. Some class actions have opt-in notices and some have opt-out notices.If a lawyer has sent you a notice saying your name and address will be listed on a lawsuit as a plaintiff and you have not given your permission, something is very wrong with how that lawyer is operating. It is possible the person sending you the notice is not even a lawyer, but rather, some type of scam artist or blackmailer or just a kook. I have seen litigious nut cases who are not lawyers file truly crazy lawsuits in other peoples' names. Those people are called "vexatious litigants" and some have court orders against them barring them from filing any lawsuit without court permission. However, since it is part of a mental illness where such people believe they are lawyers, they keep filing crazy court cases or move to a different court location to do so. You might be a victim of such a person.Those kind of crazy concocted lawsuits are usually quickly dismissed, but that does not help all the victims whose names have been placed onto the lawsuit. You are right to scurry on over to your own lawyer. If this is a suit being filed by a non-lawyer or if the notice to you was made by a non-lawyer, I urge you to contact the police and say a person is practicing law without a license.
Answered on Oct 19th, 2012 at 9:24 AM