Transportation & Motor Vehicles

Our firm has a varied and extensive litigation practice representing manufacturers of autos, trucks, SUVs, motor homes, buses, and vehicular components in litigation throughout Texas and nationwide. Among our clients are more than 20 vehicle manufacturers based in North America, Europe, and Asia, including the U.S.-based manufacturing and distribution operations of vehicular manufacturers headquartered overseas.

We represent original equipment manufacturers in federal and state court litigation and in arbitrations involving a wide array of disputes, including vehicle rollovers, alleged equipment malfunctions, and other similar products liability matters; contractual disputes between manufacturers and vendors, third parties, distributors or carriers; tort claims in the business context or otherwise; intellectual property matters; and many other areas. With our sophisticated appellate practice, we are able to accompany trial counsel as part of the overall trial team, enabling us to effectively pursue appeals. Our firm also has particular strength at representing manufacturers before the state administrative agencies that regulate the distribution of motor vehicles.

The general focus of our motor vehicle industry advocacy, and specific examples of litigation we have handled, encompass the following areas:

Manufacturer/Dealer Relations

The relationships between motor vehicle manufacturers and their franchised dealers are subject to highly complex and frequently conflicting state laws. Our lawyers are well versed in all the complexities of product distribution law and defend manufacturers in a variety of litigation.

• Dealer Termination: We frequently advise motor vehicle manufacturing clients on efforts to terminate existing dealers who have either failed to perform to satisfactory levels, or who have breached their franchise agreement through improper conduct or other actions. Our lawyers fully understand the termination standards spelled out by various state laws, and are prepared to handle disputes through litigation or arbitration.

• Incentive Disputes: We have defended motor vehicle manufacturer incentive and bonus programs against dealer allegations that these programs are in violation of controlling state motor vehicle laws.

• Ownership Issues: We advise manufacturers on state prohibitions against owning or controlling dealerships in certain states, and handle litigation alleging that manufacturers own illegal dealership stakes.

• Allocation Disputes: We have defended motor vehicle manufacturers against lawsuits by dealers who allege that they have either been wrongfully refused allocations of specific motor vehicles or been forced to accept allocations they did not want.

• Territorial Conflicts: We represent manufacturers in lawsuits filed by dealers to prevent establishment of new dealer points or transfer of existing franchises to competing dealers.

Commercial Litigation

Because of the size and complexity of their business activities, vehicle manufacturers are involved in litigation encompassing a host of contract disputes and business torts. Our lawyers have the technical knowledge and courtroom skill to represent vehicular clients in all their commercial litigation needs. In significant examples of trial counsel, our lawyers have:

• Served as national counsel to the world’s largest automaker in a three-year campaign to stop the counterfeiting of motor vehicle parts. Our litigation and enforcement actions (some in areas as distant as the Middle East) resulted significant seizures of  illegal parts and permanent injunctions against individuals and companies.

• Represented one of North America’s leading heavy truck manufacturers in a variety of lawsuits alleging breach of contract and other commercial litigation. In one such case, we defended a damage claim by a Texas truck hauling business, which alleged fraud when our client exercised its contractual right to cancel the production of trucks that the plaintiff would have otherwise transported. In another lawsuit, we secured emergency appellate relief that overturned a trial court order assessing sanctions for our client’s objection to production of net worth information for a subsequent three-week trial.  

• Represented the U.S. subsidiary of a Japanese vehicle manufacturer in an indemnification action against a supplier of keyless alarm systems for automobiles, which are alleged to infringe a United States patent.

• Represented a tire manufacturer before the Texas Supreme Court in an interlocutory appeal from a trial court order unsealing confidential trade secret documents as “public records” subject to Texas law

Administrative Disputes

Our firm has particular strength at representing manufacturers before the state administrative agencies that regulate the distribution of motor vehicles. This work includes contested case hearings tried before the administrative law judge or the agency board itself, disputes before the licensing division, defense of claims pursued by the enforcement division and related activity. We have defended vehicular clients, from discovery to trial on the merits if necessary, in actions brought by the enforcement division of a state motor vehicle board when alleging violations of legislative mandates or administrative rules. Because of our experience at handling these disputes, vehicular clients regularly ask us to audit existing or planned business practices and structures, transactions or contracts to determine their compliance with state rules and revise them if necessary to secure approval.

Products Liability Litigation

Throughout the firm’s history, our significant trial experience in complex products liability litigation has emphasized automotive products liability. Our trial work has included single-vehicle rollovers, multiple-vehicle rollovers, crashworthiness, glazing, roof structure integrity, tires, child safety restraints, restraint systems generally, and seat back liability issues. Vehicles involved in these claims have ranged from SUVs to motor homes.

We often counter the actions of plaintiffs in wrongful death or injury cases who conduct “forum shopping” in venues with no direct ties to their accident claims. Because these liability claims frequently seek class action status, our lawyers have developed effective defense strategies such as helping a tire manufacturer develop a nationwide strategy for coordinating discovery in products liability lawsuits. We were also defense counsel in another lawsuit that sought class status for SUV owners who alleged that the brakes on their vehicles wore out prematurely.

Representative Motor Vehicle Products Liability Litigation:

• Represented an automotive manufacturer in a case alleging serious injury and death from claimed rollover defects in a sport utility vehicle.  The case settled prior to trial.
• Represented a foreign automotive manufacturer who also manufactured ATVs in a products liability case involving a four-wheel ATV rollover accident wherein the vehicle rolled over on the side of a mountain on top of the plaintiff and pinned him for several hours, resulting in serious personal injury. The case settled prior to trial.
• Represented a foreign automotive manufacturer in a case alleging that rollover defects in a sport utility vehicle caused the driver's death when the vehicle rolled off an overpass and landed on the ground below.  The case settled prior to trial.
• Represented a foreign automotive manufacturer in a case concerning the death of a driver due to head injuries, and trauma to an 8-year-old passenger, in a four-wheel ATV rollover accident.   The case settled prior to trial.
• Represented a truck manufacturer in a products liability and breach of warranty case over alleged engine and transmission defects.  There were both personal injury and loss of business claims. We filed pre-trial motions against the plaintiff’s experts and partial motions for summary judgment due to the plaintiff’s own admissions in deposition.  The case settled prior to trial.
• Represented a truck manufacturer in an accident case involving back and neck injuries allegedly from defective components (suspension and air ride seats).  Our evidence included surveillance video of the plaintiff and information discovered in the medical records of a previous back injury.  The case settled prior to trial.
• Represented a chassis manufacturer in the trial of a products liability case for breach of warranty and defective product allegations involving an RV accident.
• Represented a truck manufacturer in a products liability case involving severe back and neck injuries from allegedly defective suspension and chassis components.  The case settled prior to trial.  The plaintiffs later pursued action against the component part suppliers and the dealer who added after-market components.
• Represented a truck manufacturer in a serious personal injury (partial paralysis) case involving an alleged defect in the cab over a truck engine.  At the pre-trial hearing our lawyers challenged one of the plaintiff’s key experts who was not going to be allowed to testify and prepared motions to exclude several key exhibits and trial witnesses not timely identified.  The case settled after the hearing.
• Represented an automotive manufacturer in numerous DTPA and breach of warranty cases involving the following components: engines, brakes, transmissions, seat belts, air bags, windshields, and electrical components.
• Represented a truck manufacturer in a products liability and breach of warranty case involving loss of business and property damage claims due to alleged defects in engine, transmission, and electrical components on the truck.  The case settled prior to trial. The case was then tried by a co-defendant dealer on misrepresentation and negligent repair claims.
• Represented an automotive manufacturer in an electrical fire case.  The case involved loss of business and property damage.  Our experts found after-market electrical equipment added by the plaintiff caused the fire. The plaintiff’s expert had not even inspected the equipment or electrical control panel box. 
•  Represented foreign and domestic automotive manufacturers in a large class action case involving alleged brake and brake pad defects in one of their SUV models manufactured in the U.S. and Japan over a several-year period. Our lawyers challenged class representatives, opposed attempts to certify a nationwide class, used multiple customer surveys to identify a smaller group of plaintiffs who qualified for payment, and applied aggressive research and briefing of all states’ laws to limit class certification to Texas.  We also worked closely with all experts on defense of product defect allegations and vehicle testing.  The case ended in settlement.
• Represented an automotive manufacturer in DTPA and breach of warranty cases involving engine malfunctions, seat back issues, inadvertent air bag deployment, and transmission malfunctions.  The cases were resolved through motions for summary judgment and through settlement.  
• Represented automotive manufacturers, large truck manufacturers, and a chassis manufacturer in Lemon Law proceedings before administrative law judges throughout the state of Texas.