Posts Tagged ‘product liability’
Monday, May 17th, 2010
The birth of a child is one of the most amazing and exciting moments of a parent’s life. After months, or years, of preparation and anticipation you are finally a parent. Every parent’s imagines the future that they will share with their child. No parent imagines that they will outlive their child – much less that their child will be taken from them before they reach adulthood. Losing a child is like having your life taken from you. If you have experienced this profound loss, and you feel that someone was responsible for the loss, then you may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Not surprisingly, accidents are the number one cause of death for children under the age of 18 years old. Clearly, accidents do happen where no one is to blame – where they simply could not have been prevented. Unfortunately though, many times the accident was actually the result of someone’s negligence. Deaths that are the result of car or aviation accidents are frequently the result of negligence. Other common examples are swimming pool accidents, failure to supervise accidents or product liability deaths. Anytime that a person, or company did not use the care that the law requires to protect your child from harm, they are potentially responsible under the theory of negligence and therefore may be sued under a wrongful death lawsuit in the State of California, says California wrongful death attorney Emery Ledger & Ledger & Associates.
No one is implying that it is possible to put a monetary value on the life of a child from a parent’s perspective. Most parents would tell you that their child is priceless. While the result of a wrongful death lawsuit is monetary compensation, it also accomplishes something else – it makes the person, or entity, that was to blame for your child’s accident face up to the responsibility. A wrongful death lawsuit cannot turn back the clock and bring your child back, but it may make a difference for other children in the future. It may force someone to be more careful in the future or force a company to change unsafe practices. Sadly, sometimes it takes a lawsuit for a company to recognize that it is putting people – especially children – in harms way.
If you have suffered the loss of a child, nothing can take away the pain you are going through, but if someone else was responsible for the accident that took the life of your child you may want to consider filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Contact an experienced California wrongful death attorney to find out more about filing as a claimant in a wrongful death lawsuit and holding the person or persons responsible for the death of your child accountable for their negligence. The team at Ledger & Associates have been handling wrongful death lawsuits in the State of California for more than a decade and will treat you will compassion and understanding during this difficult time.
Tags: attorney emery ledger, aviation accident, aviation accidents, compensation, deaths, dents, emery, emery ledger, law, lawsuit, lawsuits, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, liability, monetary compensation, Negligence, product liability, state of california, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death law, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit, wrongful death lawsuits
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Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
With numerous lawsuits being filed against Toyota Motor Corporation as a result of the series of recalled announced over the last year, many people may be wondering how the decision is made whether to file a case in State or Federal Court. The rules differ depending on whether you are filing an individual lawsuit or a class action lawsuit. A class action lawsuit is essentially a group of people that have joined together to file suit against a Defendant because they all suffered similar injuries or damages. One of the most common types of class action lawsuits are product liability lawsuits. In the case of Toyota, a number of class action lawsuits have been filed claiming economic losses – all of which have recently been centralized in the U.S. Federal District Court in Torrence, California. Why, however are the cases being heard in Federal Court instead of State Courts?
One of the founding principals of the American legal system is that Plaintiffs (the person that has suffered the injury) can choose the forum for the lawsuit. This was important to the founding fathers to prevent abuses of the legal system by wealthy Defendants simply choosing a favorable court for any lawsuit filed against them thereby all but assuring their victory. The concept of Plaintiff’s choice still exists today, however with a number of exceptions. A class action lawsuit can, in theory, still be filed in State Court. The Defendant then has the option to file a motion to remove the case to federal court. Certain requirements must be met before the Federal Court can grant the motion for removal.
First, with rare exceptions, the case may be removed to Federal Court ONLY if the case could have been filed in Federal Court at the time the request to remove the case was made. This means that the case must meet either the federal question prong or the diversity prong of the federal case test. Cases involving federal questions are generally easily removed as long as all Defendants agree to the removal. Considering that Federal Courts have historically been more favorable to Defendants, this is usually an easy process. Cases involving the diversity prong, however, are not as easy to remove to Federal Court. Under the diversity prong, the Plaintiff and Defendant must be from different states AND the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000. When there are multiple Defendants, or when an argument can be made that the Defendant is a resident of the same state as the Plaintiff (as in the case of a corporation with multiple offices), then removal is more difficult. Plaintiffs are usually successful at objections to removal in these cases. Having said all of that, the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) of 2005 made removal to Federal Court a little easier for Defendants. The CAFA basically allows class action cases to be removed to Federal Court if ANY of the Plaintiffs are from a different state than ANY of the Defendants AND the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. The CAFA was written for cases exactly like the Toyota recall class action cases.
While the CAFA doesn’t make it impossible to object to removal of a case like the Toyota recall class action lawsuits, but it makes it likely that the case will be removed if the Defendant moves for removal even if you do make a timely objection.
If you would like additional information or a free detailed analysis of a Toyota recall case that you may have, please feel free to contact California Toyota recall attorney Emery Ledger online at www.ledgerlaw.com or at his toll-free number – 1-800-300-0001.
Tags: Attorney for Toyota Recall, product liability, Toyota Accident Attorney, toyota recall, Toyota Recall Attorney, Toyota Recall Attorneys, toyota recall lawyer
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Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
With the list of recalled Toyota manufactured vehicles continuing to climb, the number of accidents and fatalities that may be attributed to those vehicles continues to climb as well. To date, there are close to 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries that may be caused by Toyota manufactured vehicles. As more vehicles are added to the list, and investigations continue by the United States government as well as other governments, we may find more deaths and injuries that were suffered as a result of Toyota manufactured vehicles. So what can you do if you have been in an accident and suffered injuries as a result of a vehicle that has been recalled?
Defective products, or parts, can be addressed under the laws of product liability. Sometimes, as in this case, they can also be the basis for a personal injury lawsuit, according to California personal injury attorney Emery Ledger. Personal injury lawsuits operate under the theory of negligence. In the State of California, the theory of comparative negligence is used to determine who is responsible for a car accident. Under comparative negligence, more than once person – or entity -can be at fault in an accident. Some states still use a theory of negligence known as contributory negligence wherein if you contributed at all to the accident you cannot recover anything in a lawsuit. Luckily for California residents, California does not adhere to that doctrine. As the law stands in California, if more than one person – or entity – played a part in causing the accident, then the negligence (a legal term for blame) is proportioned among the responsible parties. In the case of the defective Toyota vehicles, for instance, it could be found that the defective part in a vehicle was 75% responsible for a car accident but driver error was responsible for the other 25%. The most important thing to remember is that even if you played a part in causing the accident, if someone else is MORE responsible than you then you may still be entitled to compensation for your injuries. In the examples above, if you were responsible for the 25%, then you would still be able to recover for 75% of your damages or injuries. The bottom line is that if Toyota manufactured a defective vehicle, or part of a vehicle, and that defect caused, or contributed to an accident that caused injuries, then they can be held accountable for those injuries.
As the number of lawsuits filed against Toyota continues to climb, it may be some time before we see any of the cases settled or we see a jury award. In the meantime, if you have been injured in a car accident and you feel that a Toyota manufactured vehicle was wholly or partially to blame for your injuries, then seek the advice of an experienced California personal injury attorney. If you would like a free and confidential detailed evaluation of your Toyota recall case, please contact California Toyota recall attorney Emery Ledger at Ledger & Associates – 1-800-300-0001 or www.ledgerlaw.com.
Tags: car accident, comparative negligence, compensation, contributory negligence, damages, deaths, defective products, driver emery, emery ledger, fault, injury, investigations, lawsuit, lawsuits, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, liability, Negligence, Personal Injury, personal injury attorney, personal injury law, personal injury lawsuit, personal injury lawsuits, product liability, state of california, states, toy, toyota, toyota recall, Toyota Recall Attorney, toyota vehicle, toyota vehicles
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Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
The list of recalled vehicles may be getting bigger, and the speculation as to the actual cause of the problems may be growing larger as well. The list of vehicles currently covered under one of the three Toyota recalls has topped 8 million worldwide. Over 50 deaths and an untold amount of injuries are being blamed on one of the defective parts that are the subject of the recalls. While Toyota is in the midst of implementing their first round of “fixes”, questions are swirling as to whether more cars need to be included and whether the “fix” even works. Toyota’s pride and joy, the Prius, has now taken the spotlight as the latest “unintended acceleration” scare to hit national television, according to personal injury and product liability attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates in California.
Just yesterday, 61 year old James Sikes, made an emergency 911 call near San Diego, California. The reason for his call? His 2008 Toyota Prius was accelerating out of control in Highway 8 near San Diego. Topping speeds of 90 m.p.h., Sikes was unable to stop his vehicle with either the brake or the emergency brake. He also tried putting the vehicle in neutral and shutting off the ignition – all to no avail. “I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny … it jumped and it just stuck there… I was trying the brakes … it wasn’t stopping, it wasn’t doing anything and it just kept speeding up,” Mr. Sikes said according to the Associated Press. Luckily for Mr. Sikes, after barrelling down the Interstate for about 20 minutes., a California Highway patrolman showed up beside Sikes. He began to give Sikes instructions over the loudspeaker for how to stop the vehicle. Ultimately, Mr. Sikes was able to get the vehicle stopped by using both the emergency brake and the regular brake AS WELL AS using the bumber of the patrolman in fornt of him to slow him down. Mr. Sikes indicated that he reached down to the gas peddle to make sure that nothing was obstructing it and found it clear. Mr. Sikes can count himself as one of the lucky ones.
This latest example of the unintended acceleration problems that Toyota made vehicles are having may just be the last straw for the automaker giant. According to Toyota, Mr. Sikes Prius was intended to be part of an official recall, but Toyota didn’t have a “fix” yet for the problem, so it hadn’t officaily been recalled. Needless to say, Prius owners are not happy with this explanation and are psuhing for an immediate recall. Additionally, this incident again raises the issue of whether stuck floor mats are truly to blame for the problem. Mr. Sikes is very clear that nothing was obstructing the gas pedal in his vehcile. His vehcile is currently being inspected by law enforcement officials in an attempt to determine the cause of the uninteneded acceleration. Toyoita has denied rumors for weeks that something in the electrical system may be to blame for the unintended accleration – not floor mats. Toyota’s denials, however, are becoming harder and harder to believe for many.
If you have any additional questions regarding the Toyota recalls or any other personal injury questions, please feel free to contact Emerey Ledger of Ledger & Assocaites at 1-800-300-0001 or online at www.ledgerlaw.com
Tags: 2008 toyota prius, acceleration, acceleration problems, deaths, ego, emergency brake, floor mat, floor mats, highway patrolman, injury, juries, law, Ledger, liability, luck, Personal Injury, prius, product liability, product liability attorney, recalls, toy, toyota, toyota prius, toyota recall, Toyota Recall Lawyer Emery Brett Ledger, vehicle
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Thursday, March 4th, 2010
With over eight million vehicles involved in the three recent Toyota recalls, the world is waiting to see whether Toyota steps up to the plate and does what is legally required of them – fix the problems. Just last week, Toyota Motor Corporation’s president, Akio Toyoda, testified in front of congressional leaders in Washington D.C., and assured them, and the American people, that his company was doing everything necessary to repair the defective vehicles. Mr. Toyoda was asked about the possibility that electrical problems were to blame for the sudden acceleration problems – not floor mats and sticky pedals. My Toyoda repeatedly rejected the possibility that there is a much deeper, electrical issue that is causing the sudden acceleration problems and reaffirmed Toyota Motor Corporation’s position that the repairs they have initiated will solve the problems.
Toyota owners world wide would like to believe that the announced repairs will fix their vehicles and prevent any further deaths or injuries. To date, Toyota manufactured vehicles have been blamed for 52 deaths and at least 40 injuries. What makes these defects even worse than other potential defects is that when a vehicle accelerates out of control, the results are almost always tragic. When a vehicle races out of control and the driver is unable to stop, the resulting crash is frequently catastrophic – as evidenced by the number of deaths attributable to the defects. The importance of getting a handle on these defects cannot be understated. Yet, here we are, less than a week after Mr. Toyoda’s appearance in Washington D.C. and complaints are continuing to pour into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). What’s worse is that this new round of complaints are on vehicles that have supposedly been fixed by Toyota according to product liability and auto accident attorney Emery Ledger, of Ledger & Associates in California.
The NTHSA has received ten new complaints in the last few days – all for unintended acceleration problems and all for vehicles that have allegedly received Toyota’s “fix”. Lawmakers and regulators are initiating a separate investigation into this new round of complaints in an effort to determine if the electrical system is actually at fault. If that turns out to be the case, then it will have far reaching consequences. More vehicles may ultimately be affected and Toyota will not be able to use their announced repairs to fix the problem. Toyota owners have been complaining for years about unintended acceleration with some complaints going all the way back to the 1990’s. For now, it appears as though current owners of Toyota manufactured vehicles are forced to sit back and wait for the lawmakers and regulators to figure out what is really behind the unintended acceleration problems.
If you have been involved in an accident with a recalled Toyota manufactured vehicle, or if you have any additional questions about the laws regarding recalled vehicles, feel free to contact Emery Ledger at Ledger & Associates online at www.ledgerlaw.com or at his toll free number 1-800-300-0001.
Tags: acceleration, acceleration problems, accident, accident attorney, akio toyoda, amp, at fault, ational, attorney, auto, auto accident, auto accident attorney, cat, congressional leaders, consequences, crash, deaths, defective vehicles, electrical problems, fault, floor mat, floor mats, highway traffic safety, istration, juries, law, lawmakers, Ledger, liability, million vehicles, national highway traffic, national highway traffic safety, national highway traffic safety administration, nhtsa, noun, nthsa, product liability, recalls, regulators, safety, sudden acceleration, toy, toyota, toyota motor, toyota owners, toyota recall, traffic, traffic safety administration, vehicle
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Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Due to the problems that Toyota has been facing over the last six months, Toyota officials have been called to testify before two House panels this month, and the Senate may schedule one as well. Due to a snow storm headed for the nation’s Capital, Congress decided to postpone one hearing scheduled for today until later this month. Experts agree that Toyota has a lot to explain and much at stake during the upcoming hearings.
Toyota officials will be testifying in front of the House Oversight Committee at the February 24th hearing. Toyota’s President of North American Operations, Yoshimi Anaba, is expected to face questions regarding the problems with both the gas pedal that prompted the first two recalls as well as inquiries regarding the brake problems on the 2010 Prius and 2010 Lexus that prompted the latest recall. Toyota is expected to be required to produce records documenting consumer complaints in an effort to determine when Toyota became aware of the problems. Officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are also expected to testify and answer questions regarding why they claim they did not have the resources to investigate complaints about the Toyota accelerator pads.
Toyota officials are also scheduled to testify at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee the following day – February 25th. One possible focus of that hearing will be accusations that Toyota has responded differently to media questions regarding their culpability than they responded to committee staff. More disturbing are questions about exactly when Toyota became aware of the accelerator complaints. It appears as though they may have known about complaints originating from the United Kingdom as early as last April or May.
While all of us appreciate the efforts being made by Congress to hold Toyota accountable for any negligence on its part, as we all know that process may be lengthy to say the least. For many consumers, they have already suffered damages as a result of Toyota’s negligence. Toyota stock has fallen leaving stockholders without much anticipated profits. The resale value of Toyota vehicles has gone down at least 3 percent according to the Kelly Blue Book and may drop even further. The number of accidents reported involving recalled vehicles continues to climb. Numerous injuries and even fatalities have been blamed on one or more of the recall issues. Worst of all – investigations appear to continue into other possible issues. As of this writing, certain years of the Toyota Camry and Corolla appear to have a problem with the power steering system and owners of earlier year Camrys are complaining that their vehicles have the same brake problem that the recalled 2010 has.
If you have suffered injuries as a result of an accident involving any of the numerous recalled vehicles, contact an experienced California personal injury and product liability attorney to discuss how you may be able to receive compensation for your injuries.
If you would like an experienced attorney to evaluate your case, contact the law offices of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit us at www.ledgerlaw.com.
Tags: accelerator, accident, accidents, amp, ational, attorney, claim, culpa, damages, highway traffic safety, investigations, istration, juries, lawyer, liability, national highway traffic, national highway traffic safety, national highway traffic safety administration, Negligence, nhtsa, Personal Injury, prius, product liability, product liability attorney, resale value, safety, toyota, toyota recall, toyota recall lawyer, traffic safety administration
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Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Toyota resumed production this week at six North American assembly plants after a one week shutdown as a result of the first two Toyota recalls. After Toyota announced the recall of 2.3 million vehicles on Jan. 21, 2010, it was forced to stop selling eight models accounting for nearly 60 percent of their sales volume on Jan. 26, 2010. Plants were closed in Canada, Indiana, Kentucky and Texas, costing the automaker giant millions of dollars and sending thousands of workers home for a week. The first recall was announced last October and has come to be known as the “accelerator pedal entrapment” recall. The second recall was announced in January for an apparent problem in the pedal itself causing the pedal to be harder to depress, slower to return to the closed position or get stuck in a partially depressed position. The unusual decision to stop production was apparently due to the fact that Toyota did not have enough replacement pedals to fix the problems related to the second recall and was, therefore, unable to continue production.
Toyota plants are back in production mode with the new parts being outfitted in the vehicles rolling off the assembly lines. As for the vehicles affected by the first two recalls, reports are that dealerships are staying open late, or working around the clock to make the repairs called for by the recall. Toyota claims that repairs for the first recall issue should take only about 30 minutes. The repair for the second recall should take about double that time. While that time frame seems reasonable, when you take into account that over 6 million vehicles were affected in the first two recalls, the time necessary to repair all those vehicles adds up quickly.
Unfortunately, for some owners of Toyota vehicles listed in the first two recalls, the repairs have come too late. By now, many of us have heard about the tragic accident that took place last Fall in San Diego prompting the first of Toyota’s recalls. While that may be the most horrific of the accidents yet to be announced, it appears as though it is hardly the only accident involving one of the recalled vehicles. As reports continue to pour into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the numbers of injuries potentially related to recalled vehicles continues to climb.
If you have been involved in an accident and you believe that one of the issues in any of Toyota’s recalls was a contributing factor in the accident, then you may be entitled to recover damages for any injuries you have suffered as a result of that negligence. Consult with an experienced California personal injury and product liability attorney immediately. Only an experienced attorney can evaluate your particular circumstances and advise you what your options may be to obtain compensation for your suffering.
If you have suffered injuries in an accident involving a recalled vehicle and would like an experienced attorney to evaluate your case, contact the law offices of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit us at www.ledgerlaw.com.
Tags: accelerator, accelerator pedal, accident, accidents, acto, amp, apparent problem, ational, attorney, claim, damages, ego, highway traffic safety, istration, juries, lawyer, liability, million vehicles, models, national highway traffic, national highway traffic safety, national highway traffic safety administration, Negligence, nhtsa, noun, Personal Injury, product liability, product liability attorney, safety, toyota, toyota claims, toyota recall, Toyota Recall Attorney, toyota recall lawyer, toyota vehicles, traffic safety administration, tragic accident
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