Toyota Acceleration Lawsuits to Be Heard in Southern California Court
By Jim Greene
Published on April 13, 2010
More than 200 lawsuits against Toyota over its vehicles' sudden acceleration problems have been assigned to a Southern California federal court for consolidated pretrial proceedings. The rulings that result could affect what may be thousands of similar personal injury, wrongful death, and product liability lawsuits pending and yet to be filed.
U.S. District Judge James V. Selna was chosen last week to supervise the cases in his Orange County courtroom. Attorneys for Toyota and for many of the plaintiffs requested the location for its proximity to Toyota's U.S. headquarters in Torrance, in adjacent Los Angeles County, and to the company's world headquarters in Japan.
More Than 100 Injury or Death Cases Involved in Action
More than 100 of the auto accident cases involved in the consolidation are for personal injury or wrongful death resulting when Toyotas vehicles suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated out of control.
More than 130 others are product liability cases seeking compensation for reduced value of Toyota vehicles resulting from bad publicity surrounding the sudden acceleration issue. An important question to be resolved concerning this group is whether to include all Toyota owners in a single class, making all potentially eligible for damages resulting from an award or settlement.
Consolidation Meant Eliminate Duplicated Effort and Rulings
Consolidation of the cases is meant to speed up the legal process by eliminating duplication of efforts in discovery proceedings, and by avoiding the possibility of conflicting pretrial rulings that might occur if cases were heard in separate jurisdictions.
Selna also has the option of selecting a few example cases to be heard first, to give attorneys insight into jury decisions. This sometimes eliminates the need for some subsequent trials, by encouraging out-of-court settlements.
If you or someone you know has been injured or lost a loved one due to sudden acceleration of a Toyota vehicle, or if your Toyota has lost value because of the company's poor decisions, contact an experienced attorney. Decisions to be made soon will affect your eligibility to receive financial compensation. Your attorney will monitor developments in the case and advise you on a course of action.
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