plain language class action notices
Shannon
class action notice forms created by the Federal Judicial Center. The
following is the text of our press release announcing the posting.
Please feel free to pass along this information to your members and
others who may be interested:
The Federal Judicial Center has prepared four illustrative, plain
language class action notices posted them to its Web site for public
comment. You can view the notices by going to www.fjc.gov and clicking
on the Class Action Notices Page under Current FJC Activities. The
Center prepared the notices at the request of the Judicial
Conference's Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure.
Posting the notices and inviting reactions and suggestions is related
to the current proposal by the Advisory Committee to revise Rule
23(c)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. That rule, as
revised, would require that the mandatory notice to class members
"concisely and clearly describe in plain, easily understood language:"
• the nature of the action,
• the claims, issues or defenses with respect to which the class has
been certified,
• the right to be excluded from a class certified under Rule 23(b)(3),
and
• the potential consequences of class action settlement or litigation.
The draft notices posted to the FJC Web site give attorneys and
judges examples of how litigants might comply with proposed Rule
23(c)(2). Background materials describe findings based on presenting
previous versions of the notices to four focus groups. Suggestions for
attorneys drafting class action notices are included.
Each of the notices is a hypothetical "Notice of Class Action
Settlement, Right to Exclusion, and Hearing." Each notice contains a
claim form, notice of exclusion form, and objection/appearance form.
The posted notices are:
Securities class action notice—Long version
Securities class action notice—Summary version
Products liability class action notice—Long version
Products liability class action notice—Summary version
Since each notice is a work-in-progress, the Center would like to hear
comments on how the notices might be improved. Comments and
suggestions on the draft illustrative notices can be sent to
class...@fjc.gov or by U.S. mail to Class Action Notices, Research
Division, Federal Judicial Center, One Columbus Cir NE, Washington DC
20002-8003. The Center would appreciate receiving comments by November
30, 2001 but will welcome comments after that date, given that the
Center intends to make periodic revisions to the notices as necessary
in the future.
The Federal Judicial Center is the research and education agency of
the federal judicial system. Judge Fern M. Smith became director in
1999. She was appointed as a United States District Judge for the
Northern District of California in 1988 but has resided in Washington
since becoming director.