Chrysler Bankruptcy Derails Injury Lawsuits

[OhioChick]

Source: Internet Broadcasting

Thousands Injured By Faulty Car Parts Can't Sue

11:38 am EDT June 5, 2009

BOSTON -- Thousands of people injured by faulty car parts are about to lose their right to sue.

That's because the fine print in Chrysler's bankruptcy plan is poised to let the car maker off the hook, reported WCVB-TV in Boston.

An aspiring model, Donia Kerrigan, of Scarborough, Maine, is just learning she won't have the right to sue Chrysler. Her left arm was amputated in a crash. She claims a defective seat belt and air bag in her Jeep are to blame.

Each year Chrysler pays about $250 million to settle lawsuits brought by accident victims -- like the owners of Jeeps that suddenly went into reverse after being put into park. But in the bankruptcy deal fast tracked by the Obama Administration, the victims are considered unsecured creditors, receiving no special treatment.

"(They are) the most vulnerable group that really needs help and they are being (crossed) out of this completely," product safety expert Sean Kane said.

In Washington, victims and consumer groups expressed their outrage. Jeremy Warner's two legs were burned off when an allegedly defective plastic brake fluid container on his Jeep Wrangler caught fire.




Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/automotive/19667719/detail.html

[Baby Snooks]

1. The way it works...

And Donia Kerigan and Jeremy Warner probably wouldn't be able to sue anyway unless they had some money upfront, usually a lot of money, to hire an attorney or found an attorney with ethics or there were a sufficient number of others injured by the faulty seatbelts/airbags/brake fluid containers to guarantee a couple of million dollars for a law firm. Otherwise they are stuck with the settlement attorneys who settle quickly with insurance companies and then take up to half of the settlement. Attorneys are limited in what they can charge in "contingency fees" but of course then they add all sorts of "non-contingency" fees. So they usually come out with about half the settlement.

Since Chrysler is in bankruptcy, of course, there is no possibility of settlement unless a claim and/or a lawsuit was filed and a lawsuit is not possible at the point a filing is made.

In this case a filing being "fast tracked" by the Obama Administration?

As for claims and suits part of the bankruptcy, well, think pennies on the dollar. If anything. Sometimes "unsecured creditors" end up with nothing. As quite a few people who bought MCI common stock on the advice of brokers who said it was a "safe" investment because the SEC ruled World Com could not swap the stock and so it would remain a separate issue apart from World Com stock and MCI of course was doing just fine. It certainly was. But according to the bankruptcy court, it wasn't. Although of course the common stock of the "new" MCI went back on the stock exchange for $13 a share. Common stock shareholders of the "old" MCI got zero. Preferred shareholders of the "old" MCI of course got a little back. But even they didn't get $13 a share in equity.

Corporate bankrupcty in this country has become nothing more than another scam by which "fat cats" can further enrich themselves off everyone else. Including, and particularly, the "fat cat" attorneys.

That's the way it works. Which is why it doesn't work. There is no justice in this country. It is all a sham. And a scam.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. Wait just a sec.

I am one of those "settlement lawyers" who is absolutely not afraid of trial. But trials are not the right answer in every or even most cases.

To properly prepare a products liability case, (in state court), you have to line up witnesses, doctors, and experts. you will need engineers, and you can estimate $20,000 per. You may need an accident reconstructionist, and that costs $10k right off the bat. Each doctor who treated your client will ask anywhere from $1-5,000 for review of the records, dep prep, and dep attendance. Figure 3 docs, plus rehab people, and before you even get close to the jury, you have $100,000 in outlays and you haven't even begun to take the opponent's experts, their most knowledgeable people, the engineers who actually designed that part or contraption, or their economists who claim that your client's loss actually saves him money because losing an arm cuts your glove and shirt expenses way down.

Now, Most reputable lawyers in contingency cases do NOT take a retainer. your comment that we add all sorts "non-contingency fees" is bogus. Sure, we charge for costs, but that is money we invested in the case. You think any doctor will testify for free? In your dreams.

Sometimes the fees and costs do approach 50% of a settlement or verdict. Even then, if the facts were agin you, settlement is in the best interests of the client. There may be no or limited liability, there may be legal and factual defenses. There may be reasons why trial would be a loser. Worst of all, if you demanded that every case be tried, our system would fall apart. We don't have enough judges and certainly not enough jurors.

A sham? a scam? BULLSHIT. I take harder cases and smaller cases for my clients, especially the indigent, because they deserve their day in court. Plus, I've had my fill of representing fortune 100 companies and their really scummy insurers. And if I can wrangle a decent settlement for them, it saves them time and money, and saves me the problem of having a loser case to try and most likely lose. I cannot begin to tell you how many jurors today listen to Billo and Sean and tell us that the system rewards foolish coffee drinkers with millions, yet I know my client was legitimately hurt by an out of control drunk. My last jury trial was 2 yrs post accident. It took 4 days to try, and I managed to squeeze out 9x the offer from the jury. That tells Mr. Insurance Company that I have and I do try cases, which makes it easier for me to settle those that need a settlement, not a trial.

In summary, you have no clue what you are talking about. Shame on you. Lawyers are society's lubricant. We keep it moving and working, and offer special knowledge and training to benefit those who have been damaged or hurt. You sound like you listen and believe Billo with his "tort catastrophe" bullshit.

[rusty_parts2001]

5. Well said, and put succinctly.

from a fellow "settlement lawyer" (whatever the hell that is).

[nichomachus]

2. Corporations figured that out a long time ago

They learned that they could avoid lawsuits and squirm out of contractual agreements by sliding in and out of bankruptcy. This is how they've been screwing people for years. This current mess is just the culmination of that.

[unblock]

3. my understanding was that this is NOT the typical way it works

at least i thought that personal injury victims were not normally treated as "unsecured creditors" on a par with corporate lenders.

the language of the excert suggests that this is correct, i.e., this is merely part of chrysler's proposed bankruptcy plan, not yet confirmed, and the bankruptcy court would have to accept this proposal.

i think it should be obvious that lenders, who voluntarily and knowingly accepted risks, should have lower priority of payment than personal injury victims, who, if their lawsuits are correct, were victims of risks they did not voluntarily or knowingly accept.