You've heard the term before - a "class action lawsuit". But do you know exactly what it is?

According to Toronto lawyer Howard Kohn, the legal maneuver is growing in popularity in North America, because there's the potential to both get money and save it at the same time.

"A class action lawsuit allows a person to bring a lawsuit on his or her own behalf and on behalf of others who have a common interest," he tells CityNews.ca.  "It ... has the potential for drawing together individual claims under one roof.

"The advantage is that it saves individual litigants a lot of money, whereby a lawsuit can be litigated that affects many people at the same time and saves on lawyer's fees."

A class action suit requires at least two people to come forward to act as a representative, but others can join at any time. But it can't be just a frivolous attempt to get money out of a company. A judge has to examine the details carefully before deciding if it will be allowed to proceed. If that happens, things can move fast. "Once a class is approved ... then cases ... usually settle. The approval ... is usually the largest hurdle that one has to climb over in order to successfully pursue a class action."

But just finding out about the actions is sometimes the biggest challenge.

"Most people don't even realize a class action has been started that would help them until there's an advertising of some sort," Kohn points out.

But while the suits are becoming increasingly popular, there's an added perception they're simply being used to get money out of large firms.

And that's something judges are becoming increasingly sensitive about.

"The courts ... have started to take a harder look at class actions and are starting to shut them down earlier when they feel they are without merit," cautions Kohn.