Bellwether GM Injury Trial Scheduled for January 2016

As personal injury, wrongful death, and economic loss lawsuits against General Motors continue to grow, the first trial over the faulty ignition switch recall is slated to take place in January 2016, with almost a hundred other cases following closely behind. Just five months ago, proceedings centralizing litigation before U.S District Judge Jesse Furman in the Southern District of New York were coordinated, where bellwether cases were scheduled for early trial dates. These cases are designed to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that is likely to be repeated throughout the litigation. The crux of the suits stem from GM’s decade-long cover-up and failure to address a faulty switch problem in millions of its vehicles, which in many cases caused vehicles to suddenly shut down—rendering electrical systems, such as those controlling airbag deployment, useless.