Witnesses Poor Memory and Evasion Is a Key Tactic in Many Catastrophic Injury Cases
As the recent Toyota litigation has emphasized, Toyota as well as any other manufacturers, have routinely engaged in questionable, evasive, and deceptive legal tactics when sued. Frequently they claim they do not have information that they are required to turn over and sometimes even ignore court orders to produce key documents according to an Associated Press investigation. The Associated Press indicated in their investigation that a review of lawsuits filed around the country involving a wide range of complaints (not only the sudden acceleration problems that led millions of Toyotas to be recalled) indicated the automaker has hidden the existence of tests that would be harmful to its legal position and claimed key materials were all too difficult to get from headquarters in Japan. The major automakers have withheld potentially damaging documents and refused to release data stored electronically in its vehicles. The tactic is not so unique to Toyota and is encountered frequently by our Pennsylvania product liability lawyers and Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyers in high stakes litigation.
It seems to this experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyer that Toyota and many of the other auto manufacturers think they are immune from court orders and routinely violate discovery orders. In their investigation, the Associated Press reviewed dozens of lawsuits spanning the past decade dealing with allegations of vehicle rollover, faulty airbag deployment, defective transmission, bad brakes, and crashes blamed on sudden acceleration. They reveal that Toyota hid the existence of roof strength tests in numerous cases. It is not uncommon for large corporations to regularly take evasive tactics in discovery. Ultimately, the courts have the power to decide that these corporations should turn over the documents by issuing motions to compel and motions for sanctions.
If you have been involved in a catastrophic automobile accident involving a rollover, sudden acceleration, brake failure, or tire failure, you need a team of committed auto defect lawyers not afraid to take on the major automakers. For a free no obligation consultation, please contact one of our experienced Pennsylvania car accident and product liability lawyers at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
