''West v. Randall'' (29 F. Cas. 718 (R.I. 1820)) is one of the earliest

class action lawsuits A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

cases in the early

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

under federal

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a le ...

in which one individual was allowed to sue on behalf of a larger group. The decision was written by Justice

Joseph Story Joseph Story (September 18, 1779 – September 10, 1845) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from 1812 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in '' Martin v. Hunter's Lessee'' and ''United States ...

, who was serving on the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts * ...

. The case involved a dispute over the estate of William West, a Revolutionary War general from Rhode Island and a party in the first

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision, '' West v. Barnes'' (1791). According to ''West v. Randall'', West had died in 1814, and there was a dispute over who must be made a party to the lawsuit regarding his estate. It set an important precedent because the modern class action lawsuit originated from equity actions such as this case: "It is a general rule in equity, that all persons materially interested, either as plaintiffs or defendants in the subject matter of the bill ought to be made parties to the suit, however numerous they may be."West v. Randall, 29 F. Cas. 718 (R.I. 1820) (No. 17,424) (Story, J., on circui

References

{{reflist United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit cases 1820 in United States case law Law articles needing an infobox United States class action case law Scituate, Rhode Island