Class certification

The court ruling that lets one case speak for everyone.

Certification is the moment a case stops being about one person. Until a judge certifies the class, the lawsuit legally covers only the named plaintiffs. After certification, it covers everyone who fits the class definition.

It is the single most consequential ruling in a class action, which is why so many cases settle before it is decided. Once a class is certified, the defendant faces the aggregated exposure of everyone affected rather than one person’s claim.

Related terms

• Class action - One lawsuit brought on behalf of everyone harmed the same way.
• Class representative - The named person who stands in for the whole class.
• Arbitration clause - Contract language sending disputes to a private forum instead of court.
• Class-action waiver - A term saying you may only bring a claim for yourself, never as a group.
• Unconscionability - A contract term so one-sided a court refuses to enforce it.
• Contract of adhesion - A take-it-or-leave-it contract with no room to negotiate.
• Assent - Whether you actually agreed, and how the company proved it.
• Negative option billing - You are charged unless you act to stop it.