Dr. Bull returned after a brief hiatus to handle a class action. A young schoolteacher had her life savings wrapped up in the “alternative investment division” of her well-established bank. Her financial advisor repeatedly told her to hold on selling her stocks, ensuring her that the value would continue to climb. Then, overnight, it all disappeared. Frantic, the teacher went to see her advisor, where she learned that the entire operation was a pump-and-dump scheme with advisors getting rich and thousands like her left holding the bag. She seeks out Dr. Bull’s help, who—seeing his own dollar signs—launches a class action lawsuit against the bank.

One less discussed aspect of class action lawsuits is how they allow the parties to shape the case’s narrative liberally. While theoretically each of the class members are sufficiently similar, in reality, each person has a slightly different story and will tell it slightly differently. For instance, in this case, the bank had swindled over 4,000 inexperienced investors, placing them on a so-called “suckers list.” This included young investors like the teacher, but also elderly investors looking desperately for retirement options. Dr. Bull highlights the value in having his pick of class member witnesses, noting that he can select and present only those that will effectively cement his preferred narrative in the jurors’ minds. Essentially, class actions let practitioners shop the clients for their case.

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