Common benefit funds (CBFs) ensure fairness and equity in the distribution of legal fees and expenses in aggregate and complex litigation, including class actions, mass torts, trust and securities, and multidistrict litigations (MDLs), where the litigation is prosecuted by either an ad hoc or judicially appointed committee or team of attorneys. Their primary purpose is to recognize and compensate the plaintiffs' attorneys who contribute their time, expertise, and resources to advancing the interests of most, if not all, of the plaintiffs in a particular litigation, including litigants who are not their clients but are benefited by the attorneys' work product prosecuting the suit.

CBFs provide a compensation mechanism that enables large scale, highly expensive complex class actions and mass torts to proceed. They provide the financial incentive for plaintiffs' attorney groups to organize and then collect and centralize financial contributions and disbursements necessary to fund critical litigation activities like document management and reviews, scientific or factual investigations, expert recruitment, and, where needed, retention of specialized legal experts (such as bankruptcy, tax, and transactional practitioners). CBFs help ensure that no single attorney or firm shoulders the entire financial burden of the legal work that puts the plaintiffs in complex litigation in position to resolve the litigation favorably. When appropriately managed, CBFs reward attorneys and firms for doing work that benefits the greater good.