Class action lawsuits allows numerous individuals to collective sue a large company. Typically the gains from such lawsuits are minimal but large numbers of people decide to sign up after a settlement is reached. If individuals were required to sign up for such lawsuits in advance of the settlement, would the payouts to differ? Would such a rule cause the number of such lawsuits to increase or decrease (and why)? What is the impact of such lawsuits on the prices that we are charged by manufacturers?