28 U.S.C. § 1711 Definitions

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-34 (published on www.congress.gov on 12/26/2023), except for [P. L. 118-31]
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 28 U.S.C. § 1711

In this chapter:

(1) CLASS.-The term "class" means all of the class members in a class action.

(2) CLASS ACTION.-The term "class action" means any civil action filed in a district court of the United States under rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or any civil action that is removed to a district court of the United States that was originally filed under a State statute or rule of judicial procedure authorizing an action to be brought by 1 or more representatives as a class action.

(3) CLASS COUNSEL.-The term "class counsel" means the persons who serve as the attorneys for the class members in a proposed or certified class action.

(4) CLASS MEMBERS.-The term "class members" means the persons (named or unnamed) who fall within the definition of the proposed or certified class in a class action.

(5) PLAINTIFF CLASS ACTION.-The term "plaintiff class action" means a class action in which class members are plaintiffs.

(6) PROPOSED SETTLEMENT.-The term "proposed settlement" means an agreement regarding a class action that is subject to court approval and that, if approved, would be binding on some or all class members.

Cite as 28 U.S.C. § 1711

Source: Added Pub. L. 109-2, §3(a), Feb. 18, 2005, 119 Stat. 5.

current through 5/22/2023

EDITORIAL NOTES

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, referred to in par. (2), is set out in the Appendix to this title.

STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES

EFFECTIVE DATE

Section applicable to any civil action commenced on or after Feb. 18, 2005, see section 9 of Pub. L. 109-2 set out as an Effective Date of 2005 Amendment note under section 1332 of this title.

FINDINGS AND PURPOSES

Pub. L. 109-2, §2, Feb. 18, 2005, 119 Stat. 4, provided that:

"(a) FINDINGS.-Congress finds the following:

"(1) Class action lawsuits are an important and valuable part of the legal system when they permit the fair and efficient resolution of legitimate claims of numerous parties by allowing the claims to be aggregated into a single action against a defendant that has allegedly caused harm.