We served as co-lead counsel for Nissan North America in several purported class actions in a multi-district litigation (MDL), wherein plaintiffs alleged that Nissan intentionally designed several models of cars to overstate the mileage. The plaintiffs’ counsel filed multiple class actions in several jurisdictions under the Federal Odometer Act (FOA) and included a variety of state law claims. These cases were consolidated in an MDL in Nashville, Tennessee. We argued that the FOA, which governs odometer tampering and contains a per odometer set penalty plus attorneys’ fees provision, does not cover what in reality is a defective design claim. The court granted our motion for summary judgment on the threshold legal issue that effectively eliminated the major federal claims in the case. The remaining state law claims were favorably resolved for our client.
Nissan North America is a subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (TYO: 7201), a Japanese-based multi-national auto manufacturer.