Announcing the Launch of the Class Notice Project
John Henry Frankel, Notice Project Communications Lead
We’re so excited to launch the Notice Project, an Impact Fund initiative created to empower class members with reimagined class action notices that are simpler, clearer, more effective, and accessible.
Starting today, litigators can access free, easy-to-use class notice templates designed to seamlessly facilitate the creation of notices that are engaging and understandable for class members.
You can download the Notice Project templates here.
Courts have approved class notices, based on these templates, in the following class actions:
Donna J. Forsyth, et al. v. HP Inc., et al., No. 5:16-cv-04775 (N.D. Cal.)
In re JUUL Labs, Inc., Marketing Sales Practice and Products Liability Litigation, No. 19-md-02913-WHO (N.D. Cal)
Clancy v. The Salvation Army, No. 22 cv 1250 (N.D. Ill.)
Hernandez v. U.S. Steel, No. GD-19-005325 (Allegheny County, PA)
Mata v. Digital Recognition Network, Inc., No. 3:21-cv-01485 (S.D. Cal)
In the settlement approval hearing for Forsyth v. HP, the Court thought the notice was “terrific.” The judge went on to say “it's bold, it's got a seal of the court on it, it's very impressive, [with the] table of contents right up front, [and] big letters, so people can read it with or without their glasses. I really appreciate your work on that. That looks good."
Reimagining Class Action Notices
Why the focus on visual design and clear language in class notices? Because class notices that are simpler to read and understand make it easier for class members to understand their legal rights to take case-specific next steps.
A 2019 study of a sample of class action settlements by the Federal Trade Commission found that notices that used “visually prominent, ‘plain English’ language” to tell class members they are eligible to receive money had higher claims rates than ones that did not.
Above, you can compare the Federal Judicial Center class notice template from 2010 (left) with the Impact Fund's new template (right).
To create the new templates, we used Impact Fund’s expertise in class action litigation, and collaborated with judges, graphic designers, and plain language experts.
The Notice Project templates prioritize visual clarity, using large fonts, bright colors, and diagrams to present information in a way that caters to all types of learners. In addition, the information in our templates is laid out logically, and each template contains sample text that litigators can use as a starting point for their own case.
We have multiple templates for different types of class actions, with versions for settlement notices and class certification notices.
We are also currently developing a software tool that will help litigators simplify the language in their notices.
You can find our tools and resources here: NoticeProject.org
