Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Suit Alleges Second Ignition Defect in GM Recall

I wouldn't want to be the new CEO of General Motors. Now we find out that they not only knew the ignition switches in 1.62 million now recalled cars were faulty, it also knew the problem was made worse by the position of the switch where it is easily bumped, according to another new lawsuit filed Monday.

"Since at least 2005, GM has known that simply replacing the ignition switches on the defective vehicles is not a solution for the potential for the key to inadvertently turn from the 'run" to the "accessory/off" position in these vehicles," states the lawsuit.
"GM, in our view, is continuing to mislead customers" by standing by faulty ignition switches as the only cause the problem, said Adam Levitt, a director of one of the participating law firms, Grant & Eisenhofer, in a statement.
Full details on the new GM lawsuit can be found in this USA Today article!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Safety Group Claims 303 Deaths Linked to Recalled GM Cars

An auto safety group says federal data shows there were 303 deaths in recalled General Motors cars in which airbags did not deploy, but GM says the report misrepresents raw data information about crashes.

The ignition recall covers the 2005-07 Chevrolet Cobalts and Pontiac G5, the 2003-07 Saturn Ions, the 2006-07 Chevrolet HHRs, the 2006-07 Pontiac Solstice, and the 2007 Saturn Sky.

You can read the entire article: Safety Group Claims 303 Deaths Linked to Recalled GM Cars.  

Saturday, March 22, 2014

GM's Warning to Drivers

The automaker announced that the defective ignition switches have caused the engine to turn off and disable the airbags. The failure is believed to be caused when weight on the ignition key, road conditions or some event such as rough pavement causes the ignition switch to move out of the "run" position, turning off the engine and most of the car's electrical components mid-drive, with sometimes catastrophic results.

GM further said that even after the ignition switch is repaired, owners should not attach anything to their key rings other than the key and fob. A GM spokesman said there is no danger of the problem reoccurring after the repair but he also said that no ignition switch is safe from being moved from the "run" position if the key chains are too heavy or bulky. Owners of recalled vehicles in some cases will be offered offer loaner cars and a $500 cash allowance through April 30, to buy a 2013, 2014 or 2015 model-year vehicle. GM is not offering to buy back recalled vehicles. Beginning in April, dealers will install new ignition switches, beginning next month.

I once had an Audi A6 that I had purchased used-living in Colorado, I loved the all wheel drive and it it was fun to drive for the first week! one morning as I was getting up on the Interstate it just stopped the entire electrical system shut down, very scary! I had it in the garage for a week and they couldn't trace the problem so back to the dealer it went.

i can only imagine what would have happened up on the highway with all those other cars around me-I was very fortunate and hopefully no more people will suffer at the hands of GM.

You can read more about General Motors Faulty Ignition Recall. 

Friday, March 21, 2014

How The GM Recall Lawsuits Started

Don't you sometimes wonder how these huge class action lawsuits start-specifically the current GM Recall Lawsuits?
Well, there's an article called GM Recall Doubled as Georgia Lawyer Pushed U.S. Regulators. 

Six days after General Motors recalled almost 800,000 Chevrolet Cobalts and Pontiac G5s for a defect that could cause surprise engine shutdowns, lawyer Lance Cooper, a solo practitioner in Georgia, sent government regulators a letter: There are more faulty GM models out there.
Six days later, on Feb. 25, the automaker more than doubled its recall to include other mid-2000s GM models, including Saturn Ions and Pontiac Solstices, saying their ignition switches could unexpectedly turn off if jostled by a driver or weighed down by a heavy ring of keys, cutting power to the engine and air bags.
To date, Cooper may have dug the deepest.
“He single-handedly set the stage for this recall,” said Sean Kane, an auto-safety analyst who credits Cooper for being the first to create a public record of what GM did with the ignition switch. Kane, the president of Rehoboth, Mass.- based Safety Research & Strategies, has worked with plaintiffs’ lawyers on suits involving sport-utility vehicle rollovers, tire recalls and unintended acceleration in some Toyota models. He consulted on Cooper’s suit against GM.
“But for the things he has done, this thing doesn’t happen,” Kane said.
Bringing a wrongful death lawsuit against GM, Cooper obtained more than 32,000 pages of related lawsuits and other documents from the company, deposed about a dozen of its engineers and gathered assessments of the ignition issue from dealers. According to some of the depositions, reviewed by Bloomberg News, the defect was known to some dealers, engineers and managers since at least 2004.
A tip of the hat to Lance Cooper, that solo practitioner out of Georgia just searching for the facts!

Lawyers Ply the Internet to Score Clients for GM Lawsuits

Many lawyers are getting a crash course in internet marketing. They are using Google Adwords, Websites, Social Media and Domain name buying like there's no tomorrow!
Reuters has yet another article: Lawyers Ply the Internet to Score Clients for GM Lawsuits.

Take a recent class action against Toyota Motor Corp. Millions of plaintiffs said they suffered economic losses after the company recalled millions of vehicles for sudden acceleration problems. The lawyers took home $200 million in fees and $27 million in expenses in a settlement valued at $1.6 billion that was approved by a federal judge last year.


GM recalled 1.6 million cars last month because a faulty ignition switch was able to turn off a car's engine, disable its airbags and make steering difficult. The problem has been linked to 12 deaths, the company says

A search for the term "GM recall lawsuits" Tuesday afternoon showed that plaintiffs' firms had the three top ad spots on Google. A search of "GM" and "sue" turned up an ad for Kline & Specter, a Philadelphia-based personal injury firm.
It;s going to be a busy summer for the lawyers and plaintiffs alike!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Lawyers Prepare for GM Suits With Novel Strategies

Hilary Stout has a very informative article on the GM suit called Lawyers Prepare for GM suits With Novel Strategies.


Ever since General Motors announced the recall of 1.6 million vehicles because of a faulty ignition switch, lawyers across the country have been preparing to sue the automaker.

But some of the cases against General Motors might not be typical product liability litigation. Lawyers say the cases could hinge on extraordinary accusations of fraud — and novel legal strategies that question the very existence of the formerly bankrupt company.

The restructuring agreement helped the ailing automaker regain its financial footing in part by protecting the company from legal claims stemming from incidents before the bankruptcy filing in 2009. Since some of the crashes in question occurred before General Motors declared bankruptcy in June 2009 and was rescued by the federal government, legal arguments being explored would challenge the validity of the restructuring agreement credited with saving the automaker from dissolution, according to bankruptcy and plaintiff lawyers exploring possible litigation.
This could become very interesting considering you and I bailed GM out with our tax dollars-I'm not a happy camper!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The General Motors/GM Recall

Bloomberg has a pretty good primer on the massive GM recall-let's take a closer look at the facts:

General Motors Co. announced in February it was recalling 1.6 million vehicles because of a defect in their ignition systems linked to at least 12 deaths. Claims over deaths or economic losses occurring before July 2009 were blocked by a bankruptcy judge in approving the sale of assets from the former GM to the current auto maker. Lawyers alerted by the recall are now examining pre-bankruptcy deaths and claims to get the ban lifted. Some have used online postings to acquire clients with banned claims.
By court order, the new GM can't be held responsible for any product-related liabilities that arose before July 10, 2009. How convenient-The bankruptcy judge set up a mediation process in 2010. The claimants had to be willing to accept a reduced amount acceptable to the old GM to start negotiating.

By the way, you and I bailed these folks out so they could continue their evil ways! One wonders if there is a way to get around the bankruptcy ban? Here's the scoop:


 Challenging GM’s liability immunity would require asking the judge who oversaw the historic U.S.-backed bankruptcy to reconsider its ban on claims. Harvey Miller of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, the automaker’s bankruptcy lawyer, said the time to revoke court orders dating from GM’s bankruptcy “has long passed.” He said the company’s creditors diligently examined its liabilities and potential exposure for possible torts. “No pertinent information was withheld from the court during the GM Chapter 11 case,” he said.
Sure Harvey, you're very credible! Well, here come lawyers-I kinda hope they bring GM to their knees;)