Class actions: Model claim forms to facilitate access to justice - A case study

Author

Stéphanie Poulin, Elise Thériault

Organization

Option consommateurs

Published

2012

Summary

Class action suits and their resulting settlements (judgments) have a significant legal impact on the rights of a large number of people. They allow one consumer to obtain compensation on behalf of a group of people who, like himself, have suffered damage. As part of this process, members of the class action are often required to fill out a form to obtain compensation. And since this claim form reflects a transaction, the more complex the transaction, the more complex the form is likely to be.

According to a study Option Consommateurs (OC) conducted in 2010, the class action claim forms currently in use are heavy, dry, administrative documents that have many very serious deficiencies. The lawyers who designed the documents did not use language that is suited to those for whom they are intended and chose a design that does not facilitate the collection and transmission of information. In short, these forms might discourage class members from filling them out. These factors undoubtedly affect the number of claims made by members and consequently, have a considerable impact on access to justice.

A significant improvement to these forms is definitely required. With this study, OC therefore set its sights on improving the claim forms and the perception that people have of them. With this aim in view, and with the assistance of three experts in writing, graphic design and readability, OC redesigned three claim forms related to three class-actions suits in consumer law. The experts worked together to restructure the information, rewrite it in plain language and revise the graphic layout of the forms.

OC also consulted experts in the field of class actions to obtain their views on the new forms they had developed. In a final step, OC presented the new model forms to Canadian consumers, gathered in four focus groups.

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OCA Funded Research
This research received funding support through the Office of Consumer Affairs' Contributions Program.

Contact information

Source: Consumer Policy Research Database