Following Takata Corp.’s guilty plea to fraud and a $1 billion fine for concealing a fatal air bag defect, U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno is actively pushing to advance the multidistrict civil litigation in Miami. Judge Moreno has urged the parties, which include Takata and several major automakers, to pursue mediation and prepare for trial as early as 2018. While the automakers claim they were victims of Takata’s deception, lead plaintiffs’ counsel Peter Prieto argues that discovery shows they knew about the dangers of the ammonium nitrate inflators but used them anyway because they were inexpensive. The litigation is complicated by Takata’s plea deal, which allocates funds for both victims and automakers, and the ongoing disputes over the automakers’ culpability in misleading consumers.
Read the full article: Law.com
Originally published by Celia Ampel | Mar 1, 2017 | Law.com
