why was it named ' class action ' ?
and what is "discovery enquiry " for lawyer ?
thank you for reading .
It's called "Class Action" because those are the type of lawsuits the lawyers in the movie work on. In this plot, there are a large number of plaintiffs who file a class action suit against the car manufacturer for injuries and other damage suffered because of a defect in the car's parts. From what I read, a discovery enquiry appears to be an exemption from what's known as a nine -- month enquiry window. In other words, there is a timeframe of nine months (maybe more or fewer in the US or other countries; this definition was for UK law) in which an enquiry or investigation can be conducted. I guess with a discovery enquiry, if there is evidence found that requires more probing, an investigation or enquiry can be extended beyond nine months.
Hope that helps. If you happen to see a French film called "President" starring Albert Dupontel and Jeremie Renier, could you let me know what the ending is? I was on an AirFrance flight, and it was going to land soon, so they had to stop the film before it concluded. If you have the answer, please answer on this or on "President's" message board. Thanks very much!
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Actually the lawsuit was NOT a class action and as technical advisor I suggested changing it. But the name was catchy so they kept it. Since the lawsuits involved would not have fit the legal definition of a "class action" case, we (director Michael Apted really tried to get things right) took out most of the class action references and the script talks about how one law firm had the case but now "Jed," Gene Hackman's character, has "refiled."
shareumm, it actually is a class action lawsuit ...a class action lawsuit is a group of plaintiffs suing a defendant ...im learning about it one right now in law and i actually had to watch this movie and write an essay on how it WAS a class action lawsuit ...
Everything you are seeing is an illusion
Actually, a class action lawsuit is one in which a "standard bearer" plaintiff or small group of plaintiffs represents a number of unnamed persons (the "class") in the same position with regard to the defendants. If there are no unnamed plaintiffs, it's a direct action, not a class action, regardless of the number of plaintiffs.
shareAs to the "discovery" question: discovery is a process in American civil litigation that permits lawyers to learn things about the other side's case. The process is part of the Rules of Civil Procedure for federal courts, as well as most states. There are different forms of discovery, and several are shown or referenced in this film, including depostions (a sworn staement of an opposing party or witness taken under oath), requests for production of documents, and interrogatories (written questions sent to your opponent that must be answered in writing and under oath.) Discovery is an American process that differs substanitally from English process. There is also "discovery" in criminal cases, but it works somewhat differently.
shareThe dollar amounts mentioned in the movie seem inconsistent if it wasn't a class action. The car company said the 150 or so accidents that resulted would have resulted in $30 million in legal judgments vs. the $50 million required to do the recall. But by the end of the movie they seem to be awarding Hackman's side $100 million.
Was that supposed to be for just his one client? Either that, or the company's $30 million estimate had to have assumed that neither the report nor the bean counter's testimony would come to light. That seems like a pretty risky assumption. It seems that a real company would be unlikely to try and save $20 million by not doing the recall when a judgment of $100 million per crash under the circumstances that played out in this court case would result in a $15 billion liability.
Colonel Miles Quaritch is like some sort of...non...giving-up...army guy!
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