{"id":175,"date":"2016-09-22T16:56:18","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T15:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.groupactionlawyers.co.uk\/blog\/?p=175"},"modified":"2016-12-21T14:33:38","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T14:33:38","slug":"how-long-does-a-group-action-case-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.groupactionlawyers.co.uk\/blog\/how-long-does-a-group-action-case-take","title":{"rendered":"How long does a Group Action case take?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know this may be a bit of an unfortunate answer, but it really does depend on the action!<\/p>\n

But the purpose of this blog can be helpful\u00a0to give you an insight in to how long a Group Action case could take, and why this may be the case.<\/p>\n

Every Group Action is different, and with sometimes thousands of people being involved in them, it is common for Group Action cases to take some time.
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\nSome of the things that may dictate the length of a Group Action case can be:<\/p>\n

Whether liability can be easily established<\/h2>\n

If the opponent could have a viable defence, they will probably use it. If they could try and defend the claims and save potentially thousands or millions of pounds in damages, they probably will.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if liability is practically established, this can mean they may be enticed in to an easy commercial settlement before the legal costs of fighting them could be set to go very high indeed.<\/p>\n

The volume of people affected and \/ or claiming<\/h3>\n

If it’s just a few hundred people claiming, then the overall loss to the opponent may be small. This could be an enticement to settle the cases early.<\/p>\n

However, on the other hand, if there are thousands of people claiming, they may want to try and defend the action because the overall cost of the action could be quite substantial; even if liability is easy to establish!<\/p>\n

Whether there are potentially multiple Defendants (i.e. multiple parties at fault)<\/h3>\n

In some Group Action cases there may be multiple people to claim from.<\/p>\n

The PIP Breast Implant scandal<\/a> is a good example of this, as there were loads of clinics in the UK who used the PIP implants, meaning different people had claims against different Defendants. This can complicate matters and there may be differences in views between Defendants, and \/ or there may be issue with some having adequate insurance, or money to settle claims, etc.<\/p>\n

How long ago ‘incidents’ or procedures may have occurred<\/h3>\n

If it’s a group action from a period of people buying something in a one year period but over 10 years ago, this could affect the cases. Evidence and documentation may no longer exist, or companies may no longer be trading.<\/p>\n

It can make effectively pursuing cases very difficult indeed.<\/p>\n

The value of claims<\/h3>\n

If claims on an individual basis could be worth tens of thousands of pounds each, this can affect whether the opponent may be tempted to settle or not.<\/p>\n

The higher the value of claims, the more likely they may be to try and defend the cases to avoid paying out.<\/p>\n

Combining factors<\/h3>\n

It isn’t just about the individual factors above. When you combine them, they can dictate the length of claims. For example:<\/p>\n