SAN DIEGO (AP) - As lawsuits over Toyota acceleration problems
multiply, more than 150 attorneys gathered to sharpen their legal
tools Wednesday on the eve of a major federal court hearing on
whether dozens of cases will be consolidated before a single judge.
The seminar, entitled "Toyota Recall Litigation Conference,"
was organized by legal publisher HarrisMartin and looked ahead to
Thursday's scheduled hearing before a panel of federal judges in
San Diego. The judges will choose whether to combine more than 100
Toyota lawsuits and where to send them.
Toyota has been hit with an avalanche of lawsuits that
potentially could cost the company billions of dollars following
its recall of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide over sudden
unexpected acceleration, including about 6 million in the U.S. The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has linked 52 deaths
to the accelerator problems, which Toyota has blamed on floor mats
that can snag accelerators or pedals that sometimes stick.
Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos, best known for representing
celebrities including Michael Jackson and Winona Ryder, said the
Toyota lawsuits could set a new standard for corporate litigation.
"This is probably the greatest opportunity to change, or at
least expose, corporate malfeasance that I've seen in my
lifetime," Geragos said. "Yeah, it's going to be a lot of money,
maybe. But you're going to be remembered for doing something."
As they sipped coffee and exchanged business cards at a downtown
hotel ballroom, attorneys from around the country used the
gathering to compare notes about what might work in a lawsuit
against Toyota, what laws are most effective and what defenses
Toyota could offer. Toyota itself did not participate in the
session and declined comment on the gathering.
Seminars such as this one have become commonplace when major
litigation is filed, in part because attorneys are generally
required by state bars to get a certain amount of continuing legal
education each year. But they also allow them to discuss strategies
for lawsuits in national class-action cases. Past conferences have
focused on asbestos cancer claims, faulty Chinese drywall and the
painkiller Vioxx, previously marketed by Merck & Co.
"This was not designed to be a Toyota-bashing fest," said
Richard Arsenault, an attorney from Alexandria, La., who co-chaired
the conference. "It's not meant to anoint someone as a leader.
It's an academic, diverse enterprise where we spend the entire day
talking about auto product liability."
A central question for the lawyers, and Thursday's panel of
judges, is where the cases should be consolidated. Already on the
table are 19 jurisdictions, including California - site of Toyota's
U.S. headquarters and preferred by the automaker - Florida, Ohio,
Kentucky and even Puerto Rico, according to court documents. But
the panel is not required to pick from that list.
"You have consumers that have been affected in every state,"
said Howard Bushman, a Miami attorney whose recent cases included a
$24 million settlement for AIDS patients who paid for a drug they
didn't need.
The panel of seven judges - formally known as the U.S. Judicial
Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, or MDL for short - will decide
whether to combine dozens of proposed class-action lawsuits filed
by Toyota owners who claim their vehicles have dropped in value
because of the recalls. Those owners also claim that Toyota has not
been forthcoming about the possible role its electronic throttle
controls play in the acceleration incidents, which Toyota has
repeatedly denied.
But attorneys said many more Toyota lawsuits could wind up
before the same judge as these so-called consumer cases, including
those seeking damages for vehicle crashes and those brought by
Toyota owners who want to return their cars for a new one. Still
other lawsuits claim Toyota should be held liable for allegedly
covering up faulty electronic throttles for years.
"What is probably most important is the ability of a judge to
manage litigation of this size," said Mitchell Briet of New York,
who has been involved in major class-action cases involving Bank of
America debit card fees and an environmental contamination case
against Honeywell Inc. "It will come down to who's the best judge
for the job."
The panel intends to issue a decision on consolidation and
location of the Toyota cases in about two weeks, according its
chairman, U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II of Kentucky.
Other key questions the chosen Toyota judge will have to resolve
include:
-Whether to certify the cases as a national class action
representing all affected Toyota owners and deciding which cases
get included in the group.
-Ruling on a likely Toyota attempt to win dismissal of the case.
-Which state's laws should apply to cases from all 50 states,
which have different rules for such things as punitive damage
levels, evidence and the like.
-Choosing a few test or "bellwether" cases for trial to set
the standard for all the others.
The 19 jurisdictions suggested for consolidation of the cases
are: two federal court districts each in California, Florida and
New York; and districts in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New
Jersey, Ohio, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, West Virginia, Wyoming,
Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Georgia and Arkansas.
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Associated Press writer Greg Risling in San Diego contributed to
this story.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)