Limitation

Limitation may be a complex issue when litigating group actions, not only because the claimant firms need to handle different limitation dates for many different claimants, but also because the same claimant may have multiple claims with different statutes of limitation.

There are various ways of dealing with this issue:

  • Establish subclasses: depending on how many different categories of claimants and/or how many different dates apply to the statute of limitation, it is possible for the court, at its own initiative or at the request of one or more of the parties, to establish subclasses or groups that will have their own legal representative and will be able to address their limitation issues separately from the rest of the class.
  • Tolling agreements: these are agreements between the claimants and defendants that stay or extend the statute of limitations for one or more of the claims being litigated. These can also be imposed by the court, particularly where the defendant has behaved in a way that affected the ability of the claimants to file their claims in time. Tolling agreements are also common during settlement discussions or, once the settlement is reached, to ensure that all claimants will be able to benefit from the settlement conditions.
  • Class certification: usually, once the class is certified, this suspends the statute of limitation for those claims that fall within the scope of the certification. In addition to that, courts may establish notice and opt-out periods in which class members are informed of the lawsuit and their right to opt out of the class and pursue individual claims.