Question

A class-action suit against a utility company resulted in a settlement of $2 million for 70,000 customers. If the legal fees, which must be paid from the settlement, are $400,000, what amount will each plaintiff receive?

Answer 1

Answer:

Each plantiff receives approximately $22.86

Explanation:

A class action lawsuit is one in which the plaintiff is a group of people, duly represented by a member of that group. In this case, the group of people is made up of 70,000 customers.

To calculate the amount each plaintiff receives, we will first subtract the legal fee from the total settlement, to obtain effective amount to be shared

Total settlement = $2,000,000

Legal Fees = $400,000

Therefore amount received all plaintiff = $2,000,000 - $400,000 = $1,600,000.

Next we will divide total amount to be shared by the number of plaintiff;

Amount each receives = $1,600,000 ÷ 70,000 = $22.857 = $22.86 (to 2 decimal places).

It is important that you know also that legal fees are amounts charge by lawyers on the settlement to be paid when filing a lawsuit. it is usually set as a certain percentage of the settlement amount to be paid.