If you are one of the thousands of people that have been affected by the numerous Toyota recalls over the past year, you may be wondering how the latest decision made by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) will affect your case or lawsuit. First, the JPML is a panel of federal judges they are charged with looking into federal cases wherein a number of Plaintiffs have filed suit for the same or very similar reasons and determining whether judicial economy would be better served if the cases were moved to a single court for the pre-trial discovery phase. The panel also then selects the location for the centralization of the cases if the decision is made to centralize. Centralization is not the same as filing a class action lawsuit. When cases are centralized at the federal level, they are only moved to a single court for the pre-trial or discovery phase of the legal process.
In the case of the many lawsuits that have been filed against Toyota – and those that are expected to be filed – the decision was made to centralize them due to the fact that the cases will all rely on much of the same evidence and will require testimony from many of the same individuals. The idea is that by centralizing the cases attorneys for both sides do not have to duplicate efforts therefore raising the costs of the lawsuits as well as taking considerably longer to conclude the cases. Interestingly, the decision was made to include both personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits in the centralization order along with the economic loss lawsuits.
So what does this decision mean to you is you are considering filing a lawsuit against Toyota? In practical terms, it means that all the pre-trial filings and discovery will be conducted in California. Regardless of where you live or where you injuries took place, the case will be moved to California for the time being. This also means that a single judge – Judge Selna – will be responsible for making all the decision regarding pre-trial discovery issues in all the Toyota cases. Pre-trial discovery issued can be crucial decisions in any legal case. Issues regarding who can be deposed, what evidence is admissible and what experts can be used are generally determined at this stage in the process. If your case is not resolved during the discovery stage, then it will be returned back to the originally court for trial; however the decisions that were made at the pre-trial stage may have already affected the outcome of the case.
If you have been injured, either physically or financially, by a Toyota manufactured vehicle and would like to speak to California Toyota recall attorney about how the decision to centralize the cases may effect your specific situation, then please feel free to contact Emery Ledger at his law firm of Ledger & Associates. Attorney Ledger can be reached at 1-800-300-0001 or online at www.ledgerlaw.com.
