Los Angeles Automotive Product Liability Attorneys

View Our Landmark Auto Product Liability Cases ▸

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP’s unique approach to car, truck and sport utility and defective tire cases brings maximum compensation to catastrophically injured clients.

Our client, a family severely burned after their car’s fuel tank ignited, received a $4.9 billion dollar verdict against General Motors, the largest product liability judgment in American judicial history.

The landmark case exemplifies the dedication and skill available to all our automobile and tire defect clients.

PSBR’s Pioneering Trial Techniques

The Firm’s dedicated automotive legal team reenacts collisions and rollovers of multi-passenger vans, SUVs and cars. Juries and judges see how better designs could have prevented a victim’s paralysis, brain damage or death.

During the trial, we simulate car crashes and use life-sized examples and models of failed tire belts and threads. This aids in explaining to jurors how manufacturers could produce safer models but choose not to. Our courtroom reenactments demonstrate precisely why seat belts and airbags needlessly malfunction and senselessly blind and crush our clients.

We locate leading automotive experts and industry whistleblowers to help us expose automakers’ negligence in designing explosive fuel tanks and faulty braking systems.

Presenting persuasive, firsthand evidence of wrongdoing is a powerful way to conduct a trial and reach juries. It requires a significant effort but produces greater results for the injured client.

Financial Strength

Most firms can’t afford the expense of gathering high caliber customized digital evidence that automotive cases require. Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP can.

After 30 years of defeating all the automotive giants – Ford, Honda, Toyota, General Motors, Mercedes Benz, Chrysler, Goodrich, Goodyear, Continental, Pirelli, and Michelin – we’ve accumulated formidable financial and intellectual resources.

Previous automotive case victories permit us to fund current cases. As contingency fee attorneys, our clients do not bear upfront costs or risks. We only receive a fee and recover our costs if there is recovery for the victim. To referring attorneys, we pay the highest referral fee permissible by law.

Powerful Experience in Auto Liability Cases

We are leaders in demanding safety and accountability from the automotive industry. Our automotive and tire defect practice is a cornerstone of our firm-wide commitment to helping clients injured by vehicles and products used daily. As Los Angeles personal injury attorneys, our profession demands it. As members of the community, our belief in improving public safety and saving lives compels us.

Examples of Automotive Product Liability

Defective Tires

Often stemming from manufacturer errors, Tire defects are incredibly dangerous to automobile drivers and have been the cause of many accidents throughout the years. Tires that age faster than normal, those made without proper components, and those with dangerous designs could point to issues that occurred during manufacture.

However, other parties could also be liable for bad tires that cause an accident. For instance, if an auto shop used old tires but said they were new or used the incorrect tires for the vehicle, the shop could be liable for tire issues that cause injury to consumers.

Seat Belt Defects

Automobile seat belts are inherently safe and are a wise precaution to take for any driver. According to the CDC, wearing a seat belt could reduce the risk of injury in an auto accident by 50%. Seat belts help prevent drivers and passengers of motor vehicles from being ejected during a crash and have been saving thousands of lives per year. Naturally, laws in every state and around the world make them mandatory to wear.

But what happens when this common safety feature doesn’t work as intended due to a manufacturing defect? Drivers and passengers would sustain major injuries or even death.

Some of the ways seat belts fail to protect motor vehicle occupants are:

• Seat belt unlatching: This happens when a lot of force is put on the seat belt latch due to a driver or passenger suddenly lurching forward in an accident or a sudden braking scenario that causes the latch to break and come undone.
• Retractor failure: This happens when the seat belt retractor fails to create tension and causes a driver or passenger to lurch forward and slam into parts of the vehicle interior.
• Poor seat belt design: Some companies design their safety seat belts poorly such as door-mounted seat belts or lap-only seat belts making them more prone to fail during an accident.

Seat Belt Submarining

The phenomenon of seat belt submarining is the result of multiple parts of a motor vehicle fail to work as intended. It happens when an individual slides under the lap portion of a seat belt due to a sudden loss of momentum in the vehicle or a poorly designed seat cushion and seat belt.

Pregnant women are especially at risk of seat belt submarining due to the fact that seat belts were designed for the average person in mind, making it tough for pregnant women to position the seat belt in a safe and comfortable manner.

Defective Airbags

Airbags are another important safety feature that saves the lives of thousands of people every year. But the issues arise when a manufacturer defect causes the airbag to not work as intended. When replacing an airbag system in a motor vehicle, some repair shops might choose to use counterfeit parts and not an original equipment manufacturer replacement part due to the differences in cost. Unfortunately, this is when problems happen as counterfeit airbags may fail to deploy completely or even release harmful gasses or metal shrapnel during deployment. This causes serious injuries to motor vehicle occupants.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 284 people were killed by airbags in low-speed crashes between 1990 and 2007. Many more have sustained injuries due to airbag defects that range from minor but unsightly chemical burns to serious, permanent brain damage and even death.

Examples of Other Automotive Product Defects Our Firm Handles

• Roof Crush
• Fuel Systems
• Sudden Acceleration
• Braking System Failure
• Vehicle Fires

Auto Product Liability Verdicts & Settlements

1. Anderson v. General Motors $4,907,632,000
2. Lampe v. Continental General Tire $55,600,000
3. Barber v. Mossy Ford $22,765,864
4. Does v. Ford $14,500,000
5. Avesar v. Ford Motor Company $6,000,000
6. Galvan v. Auto Manufacturer $3,000,000
7. Does v. General Motors $3,000,000
8. Does v. Nissan $3,000,000
9. Colmenares v. Doe $2,750,000
10. Mendoza v. Ford $2,600,000
11. Does v. Ford $2,100,000
12. Luu v. Doe Corporation $2,000,000
13. Doe v. Auto Manufacturer $2,000,000