Automotive Product Liability Litigation

Continental Breakfast and Registration

Chair’s Welcome Remarks

Cari K. Dawson
Partner
Alston & Bird (Atlanta, GA)

The New Outlook for Automotive Class Action Litigation: Coattails, Recalls, and Loss of Value/Diminution Cases

Cameron Azari
Vice-President Director of Hilsoft Notifications
Epiq Systems (Portland, OR)

Cari K. Dawson
Partner
Alston & Bird (Atlanta, GA)

Michael B. Gallub
Member
Herzfeld & Rubin, P.C. (New York, NY)

• How voluntary recalls and NHTSA recalls can morph into class action litigation or similar type of litigation where plaintiffs are grouped together
• Leapfrogging consumer fraud claims into class action suits
• Examining the next waive of “one-off” cases morphing into class action cases
  • Claims made on loss or diminution of value
• Understanding the nature of class action claims based on safety, critical architecture, code, or process
• Anticipating the distribution of settlement funds in the US Supreme Court Case Frank v. Gaos
• Understanding court deference to administrative authority in Kisor v. Wilkie

Automotive Manufacturers In-House Counsel Think Tank: Managing Litigation, Containing Cost and Achieving Resolution

Todd A. Croftchik
Managing Counsel – Product Liability
Toyota Legal One c/o Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (Plano, TX)

Katherine Halpin Moor
Counsel, Autonomous and Transportation Services
General Motors (Herndon, VA)

Glenn A. Jackson
Counsel, Product Litigation
General Motors Company (Detroit, MI)

Antony Klapper
Deputy General Counsel, Product Liability & Regulatory
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc (Herndon, VA)

Jason D. Menges
Assistant General Counsel and Director - Legal
Nissan North America, Inc. (Franklin, TN)

Co-Moderator:

Jenna Aira-Ventrella, CEDS
National Leader, Global Forensic Technology Services
Technology and Business Transformation Services
BDO USA LLP (Los Angeles, CA)

Anthony J. Monaco
Partner
Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP (Chicago, IL)

Join us for this in-house meeting of the minds, where counsel from leading automotive manufacturers will discuss their day to day litigation management challenges as well what keeps them up at night. Points of discussion will include:

• Managing the litigation timeline and understanding the parties involved and nuances of the case
• Selecting and retaining outside counsel
• Weighing the costs associated with each case and the understanding legal spend
• Predicting the next wave of products liability litigation: autonomous vehicles and beyond

Morning Coffee Break

Interview with NHTSA on Regulatory Oversight, Recalls, and Safety Standards

Timothy H. Goodman
Shareholder
Babst Calland (Washington, DC)

Christopher Perry
Acting Deputy Assistant General Counsel
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Washington, DC)

Responding to the Alarming Growth of Lemon Law and Consumer Fraud Cases in California and Assessing How this Trend Will Impact Other Jurisdictions

Robert A. Shields
Partner
Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP (San Diego, CA)

Elizabeth Vanis McNulty
Partner
Taylor | Anderson LLP (Irvine, CA)

• Assessing the growing number of lemon law litigation cases in California
  • Defending claims based on allegations of vehicle repair defects and concealment of defects
• Responding to allegations there were misrepresentations of certain features of the car
• Creating affirmative defenses for typical claims made for lemon law cases
• Interpreting specific laws in California and analyzing the lemon laws for other jurisdictions
• Analyzing various court opinions and trial outcomes for lemon law litigation in various jurisdictions

Networking Luncheon for Speakers and Attendees

Examining the Next Generation of Emerging Autonomous Technologies

Thomas P. Branigan
Managing Partner
Bowman and Brooke LLP (Bloomfield Hills, MI)

Christopher Ekren
Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
Sony Electronics (San Diego, CA)

Spencer P. Hugret
Partner
Gordon & Rees LLP (San Francisco, CA)

• Surveying the new technologies emerging for autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles
• Exploring sensing technology for autonomous vehicles
• Examining technology related to collision avoidance
• Anticipating how technology related to artificial intelligence for driver-less cars who can deliver packages to consumers will change the course for the automotive industry
• Examining start-ups or prototypes for the next new trend for AI for autonomous vehicles

Afternoon Break

Autonomous Vehicle Liabilities: Assessing Litigation Hurdles Due to Lack of Regulatory Oversight

Thomas N. Vanderford Jr.
Associate General Counsel Executive Director, Litigation
Hyundai Motor America (Fountain Valley, CA)

Neal Walters
Product Liability Practice Group Leader
Ballard Spahr LLP (Cherry Hill, NJ)

Gary Wolensky
Shareholder
Buchalter, APC (Irvine, CA)

• Overcoming litigation hurdles where there are multiple defects with more than one vehicle manufacturer
  • Navigating the unique dynamic and understanding the relationships and roles of each party
• Crafting the appropriate defenses to litigation related to technologies for autonomous vehicles
  • Driver should have read and understand the owner’s manual
  • Driver is still in control and, therefore, responsible for control over the car
• Exploring the scope of plaintiff’s claims: 1) technology should not have been in the vehicle 2) technology made no appreciable difference 3) the technology failed
• Anticipating NHTSA’s response to the current technological advances
• Understanding the impact of state laws regarding autonomous vehicles

Cyber Security Threats Connected to Autonomous Technologies: Privacy Concerns with EDR and Data Acquisition

Mark Antalik
Managing Director
BDO USA LLP (Boston, MA)

Sarah Bruno
Partner
Arent Fox (San Francisco, CA)

Cheryl A. Falvey
Partner
Crowell & Moring (Washington, DC)

Steven M. Wernikoff
Partner
Honigman LLP (Chicago, IL)

• Examining vehicle manufacturers use of data acquisition from autonomous vehicles
  • Observation of the driver
  • Vehicle diagnostics
• Anticipating ways in in which insurance companies are acquiring data and how that impacts privacy considerations and payouts
• Addressing security and privacy considerations for data acquisition
• Interpreting current state laws related to submission of data by OEMs on mileage

Conference Adjourns to Day Two

Continental Breakfast

Chair’s Welcome Remarks and Recap of Day One

Courtroom Trial Tactics and the Litigation Forecast for 2019: The Judges Share their Thoughts on What’s on the Horizon for Automotive Cases

Hon. Young B. Kim

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago, IL)

The Honorable Stephen J. Murphy‚ III
Judge
U.S. Dist. Ct., Eastern District of Michigan

Moderator:

Paul A. Williams
Partner
Shook Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. (Kansas City, MO)

Morning Coffee Break

Establishing Personal Jurisdiction: Responding to the Next Wave of Cases Following BMS

Matthew A. Goldberg
Partner
DLA Piper LLP (US) (Philadelphia, PA)

Mitchell P. Morinec
Shareholder
Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, Ltd. (Chicago, IL)

David M. Rice
Partner
Squire Patton Boggs (San Francisco, CA)

• Reviewing recent court decisions affecting personal jurisdiction in automotive product liability cases
• Applying personal jurisdiction principles post-BMS to automotive cases
• Determining whether consent is sufficient to support a general basis of jurisdiction
• Examining the hurdles and challenges with jurisdiction when multiple sites are claimed
• Overcoming difficulties with personal jurisdiction cases where the vehicle sold does not match where the litigation is filed
• Assessing circumstances related to waiver of personal jurisdiction

New and Anticipated Procedural Hurdles for Automotive Litigants: Proposed Rule 30(b)(6) Changes to Corporate Deposition Witnesses

Anthony J. Sbarra
Shareholder
Hermes, Netburn, O’Connor & Spearing, P.C. (Boston, MA)

• Requiring responding party to meet and confer with witness selection
• Disclosure of witness identity
• How would the proposed changes impact litigation?
  • Understanding arguments for and against the proposed rule changes on the plaintiff and defense side

Networking Lunch for Speakers and Attendees

Hitting the Brakes on Runaway Juries and Punitive Damages in Automotive Cases

Jeffrey A. Cohen
Shareholder
Carlton Fields, P.A. (Miami, FL)

Jeffrey M. Croasdell
Director
Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin, & Robb, P.A. (Albuquerque, NM)

• Addressing the alarming trend with high punitive damages for automotive cases
• Assessing the types of automotive cases where punitive damages were alarmingly high
• Examining the areas of cases where catastrophic injuries have resulted in huge jury verdicts
• Creating a defense plan to minimize high punitive damages and jury verdicts

A Matter of Ethics: Examining Ethical Dilemmas for Automotive Attorneys Associated with Social Media and the Representation of More than One Defendant

Daniel J. Arnett
Founding Partner
Arnett Law Group, LLC (Chicago, IL)

Steven D. Smelser
Partner
Yukevich Cavanaugh (Los Angeles, CA)

Social Media Investigations

• Understanding the ethical considerations relevant to social media platforms how it can be used to search for information regarding plaintiffs
• Navigating different platforms and assessing which information can be used for different purposes while not running afoul of ethical boundaries
• Preventing ethics violations when searching through public information on social media accounts

• Understanding the complexities and challenges with representation of 2 or more manufacturers
• Staying within the ethical boundaries and ensuring no problem will arise during communication, legal advice, and other areas with representation

Conference Ends