It all depends on the extent of the injury, whether fault is acknowledged or will be easy and inexpensive to prove, who the class action counsel is, who your lawyer is, the nature of the case, where the class action is pending, where you can bring your individual action, how much the damages are, where your case would rank in the array of cases in the class when and if it finally settles or is adjudicated, whether you can afford to wait or want to settle sooner, the relief you'd want to get and how similar that is to what the others who were injured want, whether it will be consolidated as part of a multi-district litigation anyway, etc.