Daily Journal Quotes Neal Marder on Class Action Suit Against Toyota
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Neal Marder, a partner in Akin Gump’s litigation practice in Los Angeles, was quoted in the Daily Journal article “Suit claims Lexus knew about random sunroof shattering” about a class action lawsuit filed this week in Los Angeles Superior Court against Toyota Motor corp. claiming that the sunroofs on its Lexus vehicles randomly explode.
The suit, as the article reports, alleges that Toyota may have known for at least four years that its luxury Lexus model RX 350 contained defective sunroofs resulting in random shattering or cracking. Marder said the lawsuit’s loose definition of the proposed class can present a problem going forward.
“They broadly — very broadly — define the scope of the class,” Marder said. The class is defined as “all persons who reside in the state of California who purchased or leased, not for resale, any Lexus vehicle equipped with a sunroof.”
According to Marder, which specific model years, ownership, and the issue of statute of limitations are other potential legal hurdles for the plaintiffs down the line. Ultimately, it will come down to what the manufacturer "may have known or not known," he said.
