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The Toyota Fine: The $16M Might Not Be Toyota’s Biggest Problem – Law Blog – WSJ

April 7, 2010 By

The fine, announced by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, attached a statement that Toyota “knowingly hid” safety problems from regulators. “We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations,” said LaHood on Monday. “Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families.”

According to an NLJ story out Wednesday, the findings “could bolster legal claims that the automaker committed consumer fraud and racketeering.” That could mean good news for plaintiffs lawyers, like Northeastern professor Tim Howard, who is leading a bunch of suits against Toyota.

“Factually, it validates the legitimacy of our allegations that Toyota has been misleading the federal government and consumers, as far as the severity of the problems with their sticky pedals and their whole electronic throttle control system,” said Howard to the NLJ.

Howard also said the fines also may assist suits alleging that Toyota violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by conspiring to mislead consumers and the federal government about the extent of its safety problems, he said.

via The Toyota Fine: The $16M Might Not Be Toyota’s Biggest Problem – Law Blog – WSJ.

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Justices to Consider a Border Battle Over Lawsuits | Law.com

March 27, 2010 By

“Foreign-cubed” is the name of the latest legal nemesis that keeps lawyers for companies ranging from Toyota to Vivendi up at night.

The term refers to securities class action litigation in which the investors are foreign, the issuers are foreign and the fraudulent conduct took place on foreign soil. And yet, because of some company tie to the United States, large or minuscule, they end up in U.S. courts, where plaintiffs usually can do a lot better than if the suits were filed abroad.

Six years after the moniker was first coined, a foreign-cubed suit has made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear the case, Morrison v. National Australia Bank, today. Foreign investors accused Australia’s largest bank of fraud involving a Florida subsidiary, but the bank insists all of the disputed activity took place in Australia. So far, the bank has won.

Foreign companies and countries have flooded the Court with friend of the court briefs, signaling the importance of the case worldwide. Even parties litigating over the Toyota safety meltdown are watching; several securities class actions have been filed in federal courts against the company, which trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, based on statements made by Toyota officials in Japan.

The case comes to a Court that has grown increasingly skeptical about U.S. courts exerting extraterritorial jurisdiction. In the 2007 case Microsoft v. AT&T, a 7-1 majority spoke approvingly of the presumption that “United States law governs domestically but does not rule the world.” Three years earlier, in Hoffman-LaRoche v. Empagran, a unanimous Court said extending the reach of American antitrust laws too far into foreign situations would be “an act of legal imperialism.”

via Law.com – Justices to Consider a Border Battle Over Lawsuits.

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Attorneys Argue Over Venue for Toyota Litigation | Law.com

March 26, 2010 By

More than 100 lawyers packed a downtown San Diego federal courtroom on Thursday to hear arguments about which court is best prepared to hear the increasing number of lawsuits filed against Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. over sudden unintended acceleration in millions of its vehicles.

In all, 24 lawyers made brief statements before a panel, arguing for courts and judges in California, Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Minnesota, Florida, South Carolina, West Virginia and New Jersey.

Cari Dawson, a partner at Alston and Bird who is lead counsel for Toyota, argued for the Central District of California, where one-third of the cases have been filed and where her client is located.

The panel of five judges who regularly hear jurisdictional issues for multidistrict litigation raised few questions about the locations but asked lawyers to address whether the class actions should be separated from the personal injury suits. Most of the lawyers appeared to favor keeping the cases together.

The panel is expected to rule within a few weeks.

Since last fall, more than 10 million Toyota vehicles have been recalled in order to repair problems with accelerator pedals, floor mats and brakes, all of which have been identified as causing sudden and unintended acceleration. Toyota's problems have multiplied, with new reports coming out each week indicating that the Japanese automaker might have known about the acceleration issue years ago.

The vast majority of the lawsuits — nearly 90 — have been filed on behalf of a class of consumers who are seeking economic damages because their recalled Toyota vehicles have lost value. A smaller group of personal injury suits have been filed on behalf of individuals who claim to have died or been injured in an accident because their Toyota vehicles suddenly accelerated.

via Law.com – Attorneys Argue Over Venue for Toyota Litigation.

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Pick Me! Toyota Plaintiffs’ Lawyers to Plead Their Cases in San Diego – Law Blog – WSJ

March 15, 2010 By

Let the jockeying begin! Next week dozens of lawyers who have filed suit against Toyota will descend upon San Diego hoping to emerge from the scrum as one of a handful of lawyers chosen to run the nationwide litigation. In San Diego, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will hold its first hearing on consolidating the myriad cases.

Among the rewards of taking the lead in the suits: influence over the debate about Toyota’s role in why some of its vehicles seem to accelerate on their own, a turn in the national spotlight and a potentially big payday from clients. We write about the issue in today’s WSJ.

The hundreds of lawyers in the running have been building alliances through dinners, meetings and seminars. All the positioning has the air of a high-school election, according to several attorneys involved.

“If not a high-school election then it’s at least like being voted most popular,” said Mark Lanier (pictured), the heavyweight Houston plaintiffs’ lawyer whose firm has filed numerous suits against Toyota.

Lanier, who led litigation against Vioxx-maker Merck after some users of the pain medicine died of heart attacks, isn’t shy about his desire to play a lead role in the Toyota suits. “Pick me, pick me,” he said. “Vote for me for class president, please.”

via Pick Me! Toyota Plaintiffs’ Lawyers to Plead Their Cases in San Diego – Law Blog – WSJ.

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Firms Angle for Advantage in Toyota Cases | Law.com

March 15, 2010 By

Plaintiffs lawyers are positioning themselves for a front seat in the mounting litigation over sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

Approximately 150 lawyers assembled on March 5 at the InterContinental Chicago hotel to discuss sharing experts and legal strategies in the Toyota litigation, which now exceeds 80 lawsuits. Many of the lawyers have broken into camps based on which jurisdiction they believe should hear the multidistrict litigation against Toyota — and, perhaps more important, which judge should decide the cases.

One of the most popular venues under consideration is the Central District of California, near the Torrance, Calif., headquarters of Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. Lawyers supporting this locale include products liability attorneys Mark Robinson Jr. and Richard McCune as well as Toyota’s lawyers, Cari Dawson and Lisa Gilford, both partners at Atlanta’s Alston & Bird. McCune was the first into court against Toyota.

Another group is advocating for Kentucky, where Toyota operates its largest manufacturing plant outside Japan. A third group is pushing for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation plans a hearing in the Toyota litigation in San Diego on March 25.

“This is going to be like a feeding frenzy,” said Robinson, a partner at Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson in Newport Beach, Calif., who filed a motion with the MDL panel on Feb. 26 to transfer the cases to Los Angeles.

via Law.com – Firms Angle for Advantage in Toyota Cases.

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Toyota Class Action Lawsuits Could Cost Auto Maker $3B: AP Report – AboutLawsuits.com

March 10, 2010 By

Class action litigation springing from Toyota recalls over unintended acceleration could end up costing the company $3 billion or more, according to an Associated Press report.

The Japanese automaker currently faces at least 89 Toyota class action lawsuits sparked by recalls involving problems with Toyota gas pedals and brakes. An analysis done by the Associated Press estimates that the company’s legal bills on those cases alone could top $3 billion, and that does not include the costs of a number of individual Toyota accident personal injury lawsuits, product liability lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits that have also been filed against the company.

Toyota has recalled about 9 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles since September 2009. About 8.5 million of those vehicles were recalled due to problems with sudden acceleration, which the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) says have been involved in as many as 52 deaths. More than 400,000 additional Toyota Prius and Lexus HS250h vehicles have also been recalled due to brake problems.

via Toyota Class Action Lawsuits Could Cost Auto Maker $3B: AP Report – AboutLawsuits.com.

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Internal Toyota Document Could Become Smoking Gun – WSJ

February 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Does the Toyota acceleration matter have its first smoking-gun document?

The U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the Toyota recalls and plans to hold a hearing Wednesday, has obtained a document from a Toyota executive, which may have some plaintiffs’ lawyers licking their chops.

The document, from an internal presentation in July 2009 by Yoshimi Inaba, chief of the Japanese auto maker’s North America operations, notes that Toytoa saved money by lobbying federal officials to limit recalls tied to sudden-acceleration complaints, characterizing the lobbying effort as a key company achievement in 2009. Here’s a WSJ article about the document.

Inaba said that Toyota saved more than $100 million by negotiating an agreement with U.S. safety regulators that led to a limited “equipment” recall of Camry and Lexus ES350 vehicles. “Saved 100M+, w/no defect found,” the document states under a section labeled “Wins For Toyota—Safety Group.”

The company blamed incidents on floor mats, instead of a potentially more costly defect with the car itself. The power point also lists among “wins” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s decision to close safety investigations of the Toyota Tacoma truck without ordering recalls, and delays to new safety rules that saved the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

Toyota has since recalled about 6 million U.S. vehicles for sudden-acceleration and gas-pedal problems.

via Internal Toyota Document Could Become Smoking Gun – Law Blog – WSJ.

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Law firms form consortium in Toyota recall litigation | Business Insurance

February 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

About 25 law firms seeking class action status for lawsuits filed against Toyota Motor Corp. in more than 20 states have formed a consortium, an attorney coordinating the group said Thursday.

Approximately 20 other lawsuits seeking class action status on behalf of consumers also have been filed against the automaker because of accelerator problems that have led to the recall of more than 8 million automobiles.

Those 40 suits do not include individual personal injury claims that consumers have filed against Toyota.

Tim Howard, coordinator of the Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium, said a court hearing on whether all the class action cases will be consolidated is expected March 25 before a multidistrict panel in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

Mr. Howard is a professor of law and policy at Northeastern University and an attorney at Howard Associates P.A. in Tallahassee, Fla.

The lawsuits seeking class action status share common allegations that consumers lost value in and the use of their cars because of defective parts that sparked the recall.

Total damages sought in the consolidated class actions could exceed $2 billion, based on a calculation that millions of cars lost hundreds of dollars in value and their owners lost the use of their cars while they were unsafe to drive or were being repaired, Mr. Howard said.

via Law firms form consortium in Toyota recall litigation | Business Insurance.

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‘Legal armada’ sets sail against Toyota

February 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Legal attacks against Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. escalated this week following fresh reports of product-safety defects afflicting some of the most popular vehicles in the automaker’s fleet.

And more suits are coming.

“We’re not done yet. We’re just building,” said Tim Howard, a professor at Northeastern University in Boston who as a plaintiffs’ attorney specializes in consumer and products liability litigation. “But it’s going to be a formidable legal armada that Toyota is going to have to deal with.”

Toyota announced on Jan. 26 that it would stop selling eight models because of accelerator pedals that can stick in the depressed position, causing the cars to speed up out of control. The company has recalled 2.3 million vehicles with that problem. Earlier, Toyota recalled another 4.2 million vehicles, blaming a problem with floor mats.

Toyota announced a plan on Monday to fix the accelerators. Since then, Congress has announced plans for hearings into the problems and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has begun considering fines against Toyota for delaying the recalls.

As of Wednesday, there was no word whether litigation lay in store over Toyota’s latest headache: reports of brake problems in its Prius hybrid vehicle.

Most of the suits filed in recent days have been class actions on behalf of consumers whose Toyota vehicles have lost economic value because of the recalls. In most cases, the lead plaintiffs have experienced some type of unintended acceleration with their cars but no actual injuries.

Brian Lyons, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., declined to comment on the litigation.

One suit, filed on Friday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, seeks $1 billion in damages on behalf of a nationwide class of consumers. Some 15 law firms have been working as a team in that case and they plan to file another three dozen suits within the next week or two in at least 25 states, said Howard, one of the lawyers on the case. Eventually, he said, the suits will be coordinated as multidistrict litigation.

via ‘Legal armada’ sets sail against Toyota.

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