Idea Exchange
Products Liability - Automotive
Defending OEMs from customer & third-party claims
Whether you are faced with claims involving
- vehicle components and technologies such as advanced driver assistance systems, unintended acceleration, autonomous technology, transmissions, handling and stability, brakes, or vehicle skid control
- crashworthiness allegations, such as those involving seats, seatbelts, airbags, or post-collision fires
- catastrophic injury or wrongful death
our experienced team can help.
The proliferation of products liability claims in the automotive space affects not only products liability cases but also related class actions, warranty, and subrogation matters. Whether they involve personal injury, death, property damage, or economic loss, defending the cases our clients face requires a strong industry team with multidisciplinary experience to understand the various scenarios that could arise and provide a seamless defense strategy.
We have represented many of the world's largest automotive manufacturers and defended nearly every aspect of automotive design in cases nationwide. Collectively, our deep bench of trial lawyers has tried hundreds of catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases to verdict in venues around the country. We have also tried dozens of warranty cases in challenging jurisdictions where the potential verdict exposure is significant. Our team has held leading roles for our clients as national and regional counsel at both the individual case level and in complex litigation to ensure a coordinated, consistent, and seamless approach to related matters. We have also defended our clients through recalls and governmental investigations.
Our deep products liability experience allows us to spot trends early and mitigate future risk. Calling on trusted experts, we work to break down complex scientific and technical principles to juries and judges, helping them to grasp the engineering and technology concepts that make up the products we defend. We work to facilitate efficient resolutions, whether in the form of a defense verdict from a jury, a favorable settlement, or a result much earlier in the process.
As technology continues to evolve, we stay ahead of the curve on emerging legal issues involving telematics and software to address the complex intersection of data privacy, protection, and ownership.
Our team members
- Have served as first-chair trial counsel in litigation around the country, as well as national, regional, specialty defense counsel, and discovery counsel
- Handle all aspects of automotive products liability
- Have industry experience to handle any litigation that may arise including products liability, warranty, class actions, government investigations, mass tort, and commercial litigation
- Amount to over 150 products liability litigators, including dozens with extensive experience in the automotive arena
- Utilize data monitoring capabilities to spot trends early to get ahead of potential issues
FEATURED ATTORNEY
Yesenia is a litigator and trial attorney. She defends vehicle manufacturers in complex, high exposure product liability litigation in federal and state courts and has tried numerous cases to verdict. Yesenia’s extensive knowledge of advanced vehicle technologies includes airbag and seat belt systems, driver-assist systems, autonomous technology, vehicle structures, vehicle sensing systems, event data recorders, and fuel delivery systems. Through her unique combination of language skills and knowledge base, Yesenia also represents clients in product liability suits filed in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Central and South America. She provides multilingual litigation oversight to ensure effective communication with local counsel and legal tribunals. Yesenia’s compelling and insightful written advocacy has also led to published opinions at the state and federal levels.
Experience
Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.
- Defense verdict in wrongful death case involving allegedly defective seatbelt in which trial court granted plaintiffs’ motion for new trial and Supreme Court of Texas directed trial court withdraw order granting new trial and render judgment on the verdict
- Defense verdict in catastrophic injury case involving lack of vehicle stability control allegations in rollover crash, affirmed by Court of Appeal and California Supreme Court
- Directed verdict, affirmed by Fifth Circuit, in death case involving allegedly defective curtain shield airbag
- Two defense verdicts in personal injury cases involving allegedly defective seats
- Defense verdict in death case alleging failure to equip vehicle with optional electronic skid control
- Defense verdict in catastrophic injury case alleging roof strength defect
- Defense verdict in bench trial involving personal injury as a result of airbag’s inadvertent deployment
- Defense verdict in catastrophic injury case involving allegations of a defective lift gate
- Defense verdict in unintended acceleration case for a tier one supplier involving allegedly defective turbocharger
- Defense verdict in case involving paraplegic child and seat belt allegation
- Tried over 20 warranty cases in various California state and federal courts to verdict, including several in Los Angeles Superior Court
- Lead trial counsel on hundreds of lawsuits involving fraud and violation of California Consumer Legal Remedies Act
- Represented a national lender in a dealer/creditor dispute to a defense verdict
The proliferation of products liability claims in the automotive space affects not only products liability cases but also related class actions, warranty, and subrogation matters. Whether they involve personal injury, death, property damage, or economic loss, defending the cases our clients face requires a strong industry team with multidisciplinary experience to understand the various scenarios that could arise and provide a seamless defense strategy.
We have represented many of the world's largest automotive manufacturers and defended nearly every aspect of automotive design in cases nationwide. Collectively, our deep bench of trial lawyers has tried hundreds of catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases to verdict in venues around the country. We have also tried dozens of warranty cases in challenging jurisdictions where the potential verdict exposure is significant. Our team has held leading roles for our clients as national and regional counsel at both the individual case level and in complex litigation to ensure a coordinated, consistent, and seamless approach to related matters. We have also defended our clients through recalls and governmental investigations.
Our deep products liability experience allows us to spot trends early and mitigate future risk. Calling on trusted experts, we work to break down complex scientific and technical principles to juries and judges, helping them to grasp the engineering and technology concepts that make up the products we defend. We work to facilitate efficient resolutions, whether in the form of a defense verdict from a jury, a favorable settlement, or a result much earlier in the process.
As technology continues to evolve, we stay ahead of the curve on emerging legal issues involving telematics and software to address the complex intersection of data privacy, protection, and ownership.
Our team members
- Have served as first-chair trial counsel in litigation around the country, as well as national, regional, specialty defense counsel, and discovery counsel
- Handle all aspects of automotive products liability
- Have industry experience to handle any litigation that may arise including products liability, warranty, class actions, government investigations, mass tort, and commercial litigation
- Amount to over 150 products liability litigators, including dozens with extensive experience in the automotive arena
- Utilize data monitoring capabilities to spot trends early to get ahead of potential issues
Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.
- Defense verdict in wrongful death case involving allegedly defective seatbelt in which trial court granted plaintiffs’ motion for new trial and Supreme Court of Texas directed trial court withdraw order granting new trial and render judgment on the verdict
- Defense verdict in catastrophic injury case involving lack of vehicle stability control allegations in rollover crash, affirmed by Court of Appeal and California Supreme Court
- Directed verdict, affirmed by Fifth Circuit, in death case involving allegedly defective curtain shield airbag
- Two defense verdicts in personal injury cases involving allegedly defective seats
- Defense verdict in death case alleging failure to equip vehicle with optional electronic skid control
- Defense verdict in catastrophic injury case alleging roof strength defect
- Defense verdict in bench trial involving personal injury as a result of airbag’s inadvertent deployment
- Defense verdict in catastrophic injury case involving allegations of a defective lift gate
- Defense verdict in unintended acceleration case for a tier one supplier involving allegedly defective turbocharger
- Defense verdict in case involving paraplegic child and seat belt allegation
- Tried over 20 warranty cases in various California state and federal courts to verdict, including several in Los Angeles Superior Court
- Lead trial counsel on hundreds of lawsuits involving fraud and violation of California Consumer Legal Remedies Act
- Represented a national lender in a dealer/creditor dispute to a defense verdict
- Diverse and deep trial bench with experience in all phases of litigation, including complex proceedings
- Holistic understanding of the industry, especially issues facing the automotive manufacturer’s business
- Members of our team are recognized in Chambers USA, The Legal 500 Litigation: Product Liability Defense, Automotive/Transport, International Who's Who of Product Liability Defense Lawyers, and Benchmark Litigation
- Track record of wins includes jury verdicts, dismissals on the pleadings, certification denials, and summary judgment wins
