Why Hasn't a Law Firm Contacted Me?
The following are some of the reasons we've found why a law firm would choose not to contact someone after receiving their inquiry.
- The firm no longer needs a lead plaintiff.
- Keep in mind that an attorney may only need one person — known as the lead plaintiff — to file a class action lawsuit that could potentially cover thousands or hundreds of thousands of individuals. If the firm already has a lead plaintiff for the case or does not need a lead plaintiff in your state, you may not receive a response to your inquiry.
- You do not meet the firm's criteria for litigation.
- A number of factors will impact whether a firm decides to pursue your case. For lawsuits alleging physical harm, these factors may include the type and severity of your injury, and the date you suffered the injury. For instance, in lawsuits over metal-on-metal hip implants, some firms are only handling cases in which the patient needed revisionary surgery and may decline to accept cases involving hip pain or other complications that did not require a second surgery. For lawsuits alleging monetary harm only, these factors may include the type of product or service you bought or received, the date you bought or received the product or service and the extent of your losses. For example, if a law firm wants to file a lawsuit on behalf of all consumers in the United States who had a certain type of roofing installed on their properties within the last four years, but your shingles were installed eight years ago, the firm may not be able to accept your case.
- The firm is no longer handling these cases.
- There are a number of reasons why a law firm might stop accepting inquiries regarding a certain case. For instance, if the firm wants to file lawsuits alleging a pharmaceutical company failed to warn patients about the side effects of a certain drug, and later finds that patients were properly warned, they may not pursue the case.
- The investigation is over.
- Some of the cases listed on our website are only investigations. This means that attorneys are only looking into a potential class action to determine whether it would be viable for them to file a case. If an investigation has concluded and the firm decides not to pursue legal action, you may not receive a response to your inquiry.
- You live in the wrong state.
- Laws vary between states. There are certain cases that a law firm will file in one state, but not another. If the attorneys decide they do not want to bring a case in your state, they may not contact you.
- You're too late.
- Each state has a time limit in which a lawsuit must be filed. This time limit is known as the statute of limitations. If the statute of limitations in your state has expired, you may not receive a response to your inquiry.
Even if you are not the person bringing the suit, you might still be covered by it, making you eligible to receive compensation should the case settle. At ClassAction.org, we provide updates on active litigation and open settlements, so check back soon for updates.