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Nearly 40 lawyers waited for hours to make
four-minute pitches to U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, who is
overseeing the cases, during a marathon hearing in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Numerous other lawyers have submitted written applications for
one of 15 lead spots in the litigation, which so far consists of
109 cases involving claims over personal injuries and diminished
vehicle value related to the recall.
Since February, GM has recalled 2.6 million vehicles over
problems with the ignition switch, and has since recalled
millions more with other possible defects.
Some well-known lawyers were among those making their cases
Monday, including David Boies, a high-profile litigator who has
handled marquee same-sex marriage and antitrust cases, and
Joseph Rice, who has represented plaintiffs in mass litigation
over asbestos, tobacco and the 2010 BP oil spill.
Boies, who is applying to serve as one of three lead counsel or
alternatively on the 10-member executive committee, said his
national profile and his firm's resources would give plaintiffs
an edge in court.
“This is an important case, a high-profile case, and you need
the very best lawyers,” he told Furman. “This is not a time for
false modesty.”
The lawyers Furman appoints will be expected to devote
substantial time and resources to litigation efforts up front,
in hopes of recovering a sizable share of legal fees from any
eventual settlement or judgment.
Also seeking top roles Monday were a number of lawyers who led
litigation against Toyota Motor Corp over acceleration issues
starting in 2010. Furman has appointed Steve Berman, Elizabeth
Cabraser and Mark Robinson, who helped spearhead those cases, to
serve as temporary lead counsel in the GM litigation. Furman
cautioned that the current assignments did not guarantee them a
future role.
Berman said the Toyota litigation would be a valuable road map
for plaintiffs suing GM. Toyota settled economic-loss claims
stemming from the acceleration litigation in 2012 in a deal
valued at $1.6 billion.
“I spent two and a half years of my life dealing with the issues
(in Toyota) that we’ll deal with here,” he told Furman.
Furman said he planned to make the appointments by the end of
the week.
(Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Ted Botha and David
Gregorio)
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