Automotive Defect Cases

Successful Automotive Defect Cases

  • A client suffered catastrophic brain damage rendering her completely disabled as a result of a car hood failing to perform as designed. It penetrated the windshield of her vehicle, causing contact with the head of the driver.
  • The death of a young mother with two children as a result of inadequate service/maintenance instructions by the auto manufacturer and negligent inspection/brake repair by a dealer, which resulted in the loss of control and rollover of the vehicle.
  • A retired couple on their way to Alaska for a vacation was struck in their Jeep by another driver, resulting in a rollover and roof crush because of inadequate roof strength. The wreck rendered the wife quadriplegic.
  • Numerous Jeep CJ-5 and CJ-7 cases across the country in which occupants were severely injured and/or killed as a result of instability and resultant rollover.
  • Numerous multi-piece tire rim cases handled around the country arising from defects or mismatch and resulting in tire rim explosions causing catastrophic injuries or death.
  • Cathey & Strain founding partners were part of the initial team of trial lawyers forming the Bronco II Litigation Group litigating and trying cases around the country based on the rollover propensity of the Ford Bronco II vehicle.
  • Numerous cases resulting from the rollover/roof crush and death and/or catastrophic injury of occupants of 15-passenger vans, Suzuki Samurais and Ford Explorers.
  • A multimillion-dollar recovery was made on behalf of a one-year-old child riding in a defective child seat, which was not compatible with the vehicle, after a head on collision rendered him brain damaged, quadriplegic and requiring 24-hour care and a respirator.
  • Numerous defective seatback, door latch, seat buckle and seat belt cases, resulting in the death or catastrophic injury of occupants including minors, children, and infants.
  • Significant recovery for the parents of two small children who locked themselves into the truck of their parents’ vehicle and were found dead from heat hours later. Failure of the vehicle to have an illuminated trunk unlatch mechanism in the trunk compartment, which can be pushed from the inside to open the trunk.
  • Commercial Litigation and Insurance Coverage Disputes:
    Medical group, law firm, and business “divorces” both on behalf of the plaintiff and defendant.
  • Fraudulent diversion of patent rights to a shell corporation in order to defraud investors from a return of their investment and profits earned.
  • Disputes over primary and secondary coverages particularly as it relates to uninsured motorist claims, trucking companies, and “claims made” vs. “tail coverage” for professionals.
  • First-party lawsuits against insurance carriers regarding failure to defend, failure to appear on behalf of an individual and allowing a case to result in a default judgment. Those often involve the assignment of such claims by the judgment debtor to an injured client.
  • Multimillion-dollar verdict in an insurance coverage dispute involving commercial products, which became tainted during manufacturing/bottling, making them worthless and distributed nationally to retailers.
  • Declaratory judgment action arising from a denial of insurance coverage for the wrongful death of a student against a local school board when a teacher took the child home from an extracurricular activity and caused a collision, killing both the teacher and the student.
  • International arbitration under the provisions of International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, France, involving failure to pay sales commissions to a French citizen for sales made in Europe, Australia, and the U.S.