Law Brief®: David Pfeffer and Richard Schoenstein Discuss the Legal Implications of Infrastructure Collapses
Airbags play a crucial role in automotive safety. In recognition of their significance, in 1999, the federal government mandated that all new vehicles—cars, trucks, and SUVs—must come equipped with front airbags for both...more
Airbags are intended to keep you safe. In fact, the evidence supporting airbag use is so strong that, in 1999, the federal government began requiring all new cars, trucks and SUVs to come standard with driver and passenger...more
Recent years have witnessed accelerated advancements in, and commercialization of, electric vehicle, autonomous vehicle, connected vehicle, and other vehicle and mobility technologies. Similarly, the expertise and resources...more
That delivery van making its slow creep through your neighborhood could pose a car accident risk—even when there’s no one behind the wheel....more
Mercedes-Benz should be issuing a recall of over 800,000 vehicles for a defect in the cooling pump which has led to numerous fires in their cars. They are not issuing a formal recall because they say they cannot fix the...more
John’s Bad Day - On a Sunday afternoon, John was driving his new 2017 base model Meerkat car when he became distracted looking for a french fry he dropped on the floor. His car crossed into the adjacent lane and, after...more
In Kim v. Toyota Motor Corp., 6 Cal.5th 21 (Cal. 2018), the Supreme Court of California considered whether the trial court properly allowed the defendant to introduce evidence of industry custom and practice in defense of a...more
We’ve previously blogged about the creative efforts of plaintiffs’ counsel to expand the contours of data breach litigation. ...more
Following last month's dismissal in Preston v. American Honda Motor Company, No. 18-cv-00038 (C.D. Cal. May 24, 2018), a California federal judge on Monday dismissed yet another putative class action, Heber v. Toyota Motor...more
Plaintiff lawyers’ continued search for damage theories to assert in claims arising from a data breach – or fear of a breach – received a potential setback this week when Chief Judge Michael Reagan of the United States...more
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn recently decided that a fully-negotiated agreement would not be enforced in the absence of required signatures. The agreement contemplated a settlement between the General Motors bankruptcy...more
Porsche rolled out its line of Cayenne sport-utility vehicles with carefree cruising in mind. Volkswagen did the same think with its Touareg models. Now, about 125,000 of the upscale SUVs have been recalled because of fuel...more
When unraveling a major corporate scandal, especially multi-year schemes involving senior executives, the blame game or lessons learned approach can easily turn into a fruitless exercise. The VA and Takata scandals are...more
In my continuing review of corporate misconduct in the automobile industry, today we examine the Takata Corporation scandal for its airbag scheme. Takata is a manufacturer and supplier of automotive safety equipment. It...more
Motor vehicle design continues to make significant technological leaps incorporating a number of automated features, with many manufacturers pioneering the concept of driverless cars. What was once the stuff of science...more
A Texas teenager, Huma Hanif was killed when the Takata airbag in her Honda Civic exploded as a result of a crash. Since 2011, the Honda Civic has been recalled multiple times. According to the victim’s family, they have...more
Plaintiffs from California, New Jersey, and Florida claimed their 2002-2005 Ford Explorers, Mercury Mountaineers, and Lincoln Aviators suffered from a common design defect: the plastic appliqué just below the flip-glass on...more
Driving in America: It’s a task almost universally reviled by those with hour-long commutes, practically a right-of-way to adulthood, a pastime romanticized in films, and – maybe – a soon extinct activity? Ever since Google...more
Cases in which an appellate court holds that a state’s standard for punitive liability was not satisfied even though there was sufficient evidence to support liability for the underlying causes of action are regrettably rare....more