Hooray, I won! I was actually a plaintiff in this case. In the aftermath of the crash, I bought a bit of AIG in a cynical bout of investing, thinking: Well fuck, if they are going to bail these crooks out at my expense, I am going to get my money back by becoming a beneficiary instead of just an involuntary donor. When I got the class action notice and realized that I qualified to sue the US government for helping the bunch of crooks that I took refuge amongst, it was too fucked up a proposal for me to pass up. I'd never sued the US government before, and suing them for helping me with my money seemed a good place to start. Seeing that I won and lost, and that I'll probably lose bigger next time around, I'd say things have worked out just perfectly. Eat that, Damien Hirst.
That's the general idea of a class-action suit. Get as many people hurt by even a little amount as you can to make the total amount of damages as big as you can. In that process you get a hold of people and tell them what you're doing to recruit them into your camp.