Lieff Cabraser Civil Justice Blog

On June 30, 2014, General Motors unveiled a settlement protocol that would compensate persons injured and families of loved ones killed in accidents triggered by the defective ignition switch in millions of its cars. The defect caused the cars to suddenly lose power, often resulting in the driver losing control of the vehicles, as well as disabling the airbags. It has been estimated that over 300 persons may have died in crashes linked to the defective ignition switch.

As part of its "Legal 500 Awards," the UK-based publication Legal 500 recently named Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, as its U.S. Mass Torts and Class Action Plaintiffs' Law Firm of the Year for 2014. The Legal 500 awards honor the best practice teams in the U.S., as determined by Legal 500 from thousands of lawyer interviews.

In a significant ruling defining the scope of U.S. antitrust laws in our global economy, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the criminal convictions of AU Optronics ("AUO"), one of the world's leading manufacturers of Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Displays ("TFT-LCDs"), and its wholly-owned subsidiary AU Optronics Corporation of America ("AUOA") for fixing the prices of TFT-LCDs imported and sold in the U.S. in violation of the Sherman Act. TFT-LCDs are used in flat-panel televisions as well as computer monitors, laptop computers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and other devices.

General Motors announced on June 30, 2014 the recall of another 8.4 million automobiles, bringing the total number of vehicles recalled by GM this year to over 29 million worldwide. Out of the total number of vehicles recalled, 8.2 million are linked to the faulty key ignition system that causes vehicles to lose power.