Last year was a busy year for Evangelis. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of two of her cases, a product defect class action against her client Yamaha Motor Corp. and another validating Uber Technologies Inc. arbitration agreements with its employees.
In the product defect case, a group of 20 plaintiffs nationwide alleged Yamaha sold a defective model of its product between 2000 and 2004 that resulted in corrosion and malfunction. After a U.S. judge in 2015 ruled plaintiffs' allegations were "speculative," and failed to prove Yamaha had knowledge of the alleged corrosion before the sale, the 9th Circuit affirmed dismissal of the case. Williams et al. v. Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, 15-55924 (9th Cir. Sept. 7, 2016).
The court made clear that product claims can't be brought outside of the warranty unless the defect caused an unreasonable safety risk. "This was just normal wear and tear. It's a significant case because it limits a manufacturer's duties to disclose under California law," said Evangelis, who was lead counsel on the case as co-chair of Gibson Dunn's class actions practice group and vice chair of the firm's California appellate practice group.
Evangelis also had a hand in the Uber arbitration lawsuit, in which the appellate court ruled employees who signed arbitration agreements that preclude class actions couldn't bring claims. Mohamed v. Uber Technologies Inc., 2016 DJDAR 9314.
"That decision was very gratifying, and the 9th Circuit joined many courts around the country that enforced Uber's arbitration agreement," said Evangelis.
— Justin Kloczko
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