Sep. 13, 2012
Vincent Galvin
See more on Vincent GalvinBowman and Brooke LLP San Jose Litigation Specialty: product liability defense, class actions
In the high-volume, high-stakes "unintentional acceleration" litigation pending against Toyota Motor Corporation, the company has aligned itself squarely behind Galvin - a testament to his ability to focus a jury on the facts.
Lead counsel for Toyota in its avalanche of litigation, Galvin will try the Van Alfen v. Toyota Motor Corp., 11-08120 (C.D. Cal., filed 2011) bellwether case in federal court in February.
In the one of nearly 300 lawsuits to be heard in federal court, Galvin will argue that according to the black box recorder on Van Alfen's 2008 Camry, he never actually pushed the brake before his collision.
"The challenge is looking at the facts of an accident, being able to figure out what happened and being able to keep everyone focused on that," Galvin said.
"Our position is that there is no defect in that vehicle," he said. "Due to health issues that the driver had, he didn't step on the break and he didn't step on the gas, and all the information we have is consistent with that, and he just drove into the rock wall."
Since the bellwether case was determined, Galvin and his team have been working on discovery, depositions and producing witnesses for depositions. He recently exchanged expert reports with the plaintiff's side and will be moving into the motion practice phase this fall.
As the lead defense counsel for Toyota in all of its unintentional acceleration litigation, Galvin will handle all technical and product aspects in the economic loss class-action lawsuits and all issues for the personal injury cases. However, due to scheduling conflicts with the Van Alfen bellwether case, Galvin will not be the lead on Michael Houlf v. Toyota Motor Corp., SCV27280 (Placer Co. Super. Ct.) set as the bellwether case in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Nov. 1.
"I've tried a lot of cases all over the country, and I'm very good at putting the cases together, explaining the complex technical facts to the jury and focusing on the facts," Galvin said. "I have been working with Toyota for many years, as has my firm, so I think it was just natural that they would come to us to defend them in these cases."
Since a recall of more than 8.5 million Toyota cars and trucks in 2009 and 2010, parties involved in the litigation have disputed whether the unintended acceleration was due to driver error, sticky gas pedals, faulty floor mats or a malfunction in the cars' computerized braking systems. Galvin maintains his focus by taking the litigation one or two cases at a time.
As he prepares for trial, Galvin will draw on his experiences from 30 previous catastrophic and wrongful death product liability cases across the country. He has previously defended other vehicle manufacturers, including Ford Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Isuzu Motors Ltd. and General Motors Co.
Galvin, a managing partner at Bowman and Brooke, has also helped the firm expand the nature of its work beyond vehicle liability suits into class actions, as well as pharmaceutical and medical device work.
"When you look at products, they're not just vehicles, so part of our strategic plan is to become more involved in all those areas of products, not just automobiles," he said.
- CAITLIN JOHNSON
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