Research Team

The Research Team at The Class Action Lawsuit identifies, documents, and maintains every class action settlement listed on the site. We work alongside the Editorial Team as part of The Class Action Lawsuit.

What We Do

Most settlement information lives inside federal and state court dockets, legal filings, and settlement administration portals. We monitor those sources directly to identify new class actions as they receive preliminary or final court approval.

Every settlement listed on this site has been reviewed against its original court-approved documentation. We don’t rely on press releases or secondhand reporting. We read the court filings ourselves.

Our Research Process

1. Settlement Discovery

We monitor federal court records through PACER, state court filing systems, the FTC settlement database, CFPB enforcement actions, and official settlement administrator websites. When a class action receives court approval, we flag it for review.

2. Document Review and Verification

For every settlement we cover, we pull and review the primary documents: the settlement agreement, preliminary approval order, notice plan, claim form, and final approval order when available. We cross-reference these to verify the fund amount, eligibility criteria, claim deadlines, and payment estimates.

3. Settlement Listing Creation

Once verified, we turn the legal language into clear settlement listings. Each one includes the case name and court, a plain summary of the allegations, who qualifies, how to file a claim, the deadline, estimated payments based on the court-approved distribution plan, and links to the official settlement website and claim portal.

4. Ongoing Monitoring

Settlements change. Deadlines get extended, courts modify distribution plans, objection windows open and close. We track these changes and update the listings so readers always know the current status. When a settlement moves from claims period to distribution, we update it accordingly.

5. Quality Assurance

Every listing gets a second review before publication. We verify that links point to official settlement resources, that eligibility criteria match the court-approved notice, and that claim instructions are correct. If anything can’t be verified against a primary source, we don’t publish it.

Our Source Hierarchy

We prioritize sources by reliability. From most authoritative to supplementary:

1. Court filings and orders. The definitive source for settlement terms and approval status.
2. Official settlement administrator websites. The portals designated for claim submission and settlement notices.
3. Regulatory agency databases. FTC, CFPB, SEC, and state attorney general offices that publish enforcement actions and settlements.
4. Case docket entries. Procedural records that confirm timelines, hearing dates, and court decisions.

We don’t cite social media posts, anonymous forums, or unverified news aggregators as primary sources for settlement information.

Coverage Areas

We cover settlements across the major categories of consumer class action litigation:

• Data breach and privacy settlements
• Product liability and defective product settlements
• Consumer fraud and deceptive practices settlements
• Securities and financial fraud settlements
• Employment and wage theft class actions
• Environmental and public health settlements

Our Commitment to Accuracy

The information we publish affects whether people file valid claims and receive money they’re owed. That’s the reason our methodology looks the way it does. If we find an error, we correct it and note the update per our corrections policy.

Have a question about our research, or want to report a settlement we may have missed? Contact us. You can also read more about The Class Action Lawsuit or meet the Editorial Team.