Toyota attorneys report 501 settlements of acceleration defect lawsuits

SANTA ANA -- Attorneys for Toyota Motor Corp. told a federal judge Wednesday they've settled 501 lawsuits related to a defect that caused vehicles to accelerate unintentionally, part of the final stages of a seven-year saga that's cost the company billions of dollars.

John P. Hooper and Eric Gladbach of King & Spalding LLP in New York as well as Neil M. Kliebenstein of Bowman and Brooke LLP in San Jose presented a joint status report with plaintiffs' attorneys during a telephonic status conference with U.S. District Judge James V. Selna of the Central District of California.

They were joined by Elizabeth J. Cabraser of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP in San Francisco, who is plaintiffs' co-lead counsel with Mark P. Robinson, Jr., of Robinson Calcagnie Inc., in Newport Beach.

Plaintiffs' attorneys Donald H. Slavik of Slavik Law in Newport Beach and Dee Miles of Beasley Allen in Atlanta also participated.

The lawyers have been updating Selna regularly since the judge established an intensive settlement process in December 2013 following a $1.6 billion settlement in a related class action lawsuit.

"We continue to work in good faith to resolve cases wherever possible," a Toyota representative said in an email. "In our view, this process will bring greater efficiency to the resolution of pending cases and provide a clear path forward for those claims that cannot be resolved outside of trial."

While the class action dealt with the diminished value of the vehicles, the lawsuits still being addressed are personal injury and wrongful death claims. Each is being settled individually with the assistance of a court-appointed special master and mediator, Patrick A. Juneau of Louisiana.

Juneau negotiated the 2013 class action settlement, and he's handled other high-profile matters, such as serving as special master in BP P.L.C.'s oil spill settlement.

"The overwhelming majority of cases have been settled," Juneau told the Daily Journal Wednesday. "That's good. If everybody's happy, then we all go home."

Juneau said the Toyota cases are not complicated compared to other matters he's handled, but the intensive settlement process was "a very unique plan."

Judge Selna, "in a very orderly process, dictated the movement of this case and has kind of been, for lack of a better word, the guiding force in putting us where we are right now," Juneau said.

While Toyota paid $1.6 billion in the class action and $1.2 billion in criminal fines, court documents don't indicate how much money is involved in the 501 lawsuit settlements, which are confidential.

Between February 2014 and last month, attorneys conducted approximately 40 settlement conferences and 36 mediations in 14 cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Houston and Atlanta. In re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, 10-ML02151 (C.D. Cal., filed April 12, 2010).

Plaintiffs' attorney Jack S. Dweck of The Dweck Law Firm LLP in New York said he participated in one mediation and a meeting in New York regarding his personal injury lawsuit, "but we got nowhere, and we're just proceeding with the preparation of the case."