General Motors Co.’s victory in a Houston courtroom Thursday makes the carmaker three for three in trials related to an ignition-switch defect, but its legal entanglements may stretch on for years, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. At least a dozen lawsuits are set for trial in the next year, according to court records. The next trial begins Sept. 12 in New York federal court in a lawsuit over the 2011 crash of a Chevrolet Cobalt in Virginia. The company also faces lawsuits by car owners claiming economic losses because of the reduced value of their vehicles. In the Texas case, a jury of eight women and four men in state court took about an hour to reach its decision following a three-week trial. They determined that GM wasn’t liable for a 2011 accident that left Zach Stevens, then 19, with a brain injury after his 2007 Saturn Sky careened out of control on a rain-slick road and hit a pickup, killing the driver. In 2014, GM recalled 2.6 million U.S. cars with ignition switches in danger of jostling off. Once the switch came off, the cars lost power and safety systems such as power steering, power brakes, air bags and seat belts were prevented from working as designed. The defect has been linked to at least 124 deaths and 275 injuries. Read more.
Don’t miss the Great Debate at ABI’s Views from the Bench conference on Oct. 7, as Judge Robert Gerber (ret.) & Goodwin Procter's William Weintraub debate whether §363 sales lawfully be free and clear of successor-liability claims. Click here to register!