The litigation over Toyota vehicles allegedly afflicted with sudden unintended acceleration (stuck gas pedals, in layman’s terms) is the most watched product liability class action to come along in years. And, in at least one small way, Toyota may be in the driver’s seat.
On April 9—two weeks after fielding two-minute pitches from multiple plaintiffs lawyers involved in the matter—the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation designated the Central District of California as the venue for the case and Santa Ana federal district court judge James Selna to oversee it. The consolidation covers 11 suits: five in the Central District of California, three in the Eastern District of Louisiana, and one each in the Middle District of Florida, the Southern District of Florida, and the Southern District of West Virginia.
In explaining its decision, the panel wrote that “Toyota maintains its United States corporate headquarters within this district, and relevant documents and witnesses are likely located there,” adding that Selna’s “28 years of private law practice at the very highest levels and in some of the most complex cases leaves him well prepared for a case of this magnitude.” The panel also decided that, for the time being, personal injury and wrongful death cases would be merged with economic damage claims in the consolidated case.
