It seems like there is always chatter about class action lawsuits from the most recent filing by people banning together to fight an injustice or a recent settlement for a group of plaintiffs who have won a prolonged fight against a company or product. However, while the notion of a class-action lawsuit denotes a fight for the common good, triplepod.com recently posed the question, who is the real winner behind the suits?

Are the lawsuits that cost companies millions of dollars each year successful, and do they really uncover losses for consumers? Naturally, the answer depends on whom an individual asks and often the intended result of such a lawsuit can be unclear, if not erroneous.

By definition, a class action is a type of lawsuit in which one or several persons sue on behalf of a larger group of persons. While the issue or dispute of class action lawsuits can vary, two factors are almost always present for every class action: the issues in dispute are common to all members of the class, and the persons affected are so numerous as to make it impracticable to bring them all before the court.