General Motors Ignition Switch Recall
General Motors Ignition Switch Recall
If you or a loved one has suffered injuries related to General Motors’ (GM) defective ignition switch, or, if your vehicle is one of the some 2.6 million cars equipped with the defective switch that have now been recalled, you may be eligible to receive compensation. The lawyers at The Sander Firm are experienced product liability attorneys and are here to help. Our exceptional team is well-versed in product liability cases with over 4 decades of experience dealing with large scale recalls. We take negligent companies to court and hold them responsible when they jeopardize consumer safety, always with a view to securing you the compensation you deserve.
Faulty GM ignition switch poses serious, even lethal dangers to consumers
Reported injuries and deaths attributed to the recalled ignition switch are only now trickling in, with the expectation of more to come. Thus far, GM has admitted that its ignition switch has been linked to the deaths of at least 13 people and at least 54 accidents; but these reports can account for only a fraction of the some 2.6 million Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars equipped with the device.
Types of compensation for GM recall
If your car is one of those recalled because its ignition switch is not working correctly, causing your front air bags not to deploy or your brakes or steering to fail, at the very least you may qualify for reimbursement for the value of your car’s depreciation, declines in resale value and/or repair costs.
If you have been injured, suffered an accident or have lost a loved one to an accident because of your faulty GM ignition switch, you are eligible to receive much more compensation through the filing a product liability lawsuit demanding lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering, and wrongful death.
Don’t Pay Unless You Win
How a product recall lawyer can help you
More lawsuits regarding the the GM ignition switch recall are filed every day, and those who have been injured are encouraged to speak with a product recall lawyer as soon as possible. The Sanders Firm have been among the leaders of this litigation since its inception and are taking this fight directly to General Motors. Our medical, legal and insurance experts are already working closely on the most persuasive and insightful arguments against the manufacturing giant to ensure that all owners, drivers, and passengers are given full and fair compensation for their injuries.
Please call today for a free evaluation of your claim. The next months are critical in assessing damages and assembling claims as GM moves forward in reaching a settlement fund decision.
Latest investigation reveals General Motors’ “incompetence and neglect”
Recent findings from an internal investigation led by the former U.S. attorney, Anton Valukas, into the causes of the delayed GM ignition switch recall, show that company executives may have been aware of the problem for as much as a decade but did not make their concerns known to the public in that time. This lag, the investigation revealed, was not due to a cover-up but instead suggested an overall pattern of general “incompetence and neglect,” according to GM chief executive Mary T. Barra. Outlining this and other findings from the probe, Barra said GM has fired 15 employees deemed responsible for the delay, and vowed to tackle the endemic corporate culture that contributed to it. Five other employees have been “disciplined.” In describing that insidious corporate culture, Barra cited the now notorious “GM nod,” by which company employees would attend a meeting, nod in agreement at a proposed course of action and then ultimately do nothing. (The company’s decline and 2009 bankruptcy and federal bailout allegedly owe themselves to the same culturally enshrined pattern of neglect.)
85 GM ignition switch lawsuits in the pipeline
GM will need the successes of recent months—the month of May logged the most monthly revenues in 6 years—to buoy it in the face of a rising number of filings by product liability lawyers. The company now faces about 85 federal lawsuits from disgruntled car owners whose vehicles allegedly lost value as a result of the recall; and there are more claims alleging injuries and deaths allegedly caused by ignition-switch-related crashes.
General Motors is currently engaged in a decision-making process around eligibility criteria and compensation to car owners affected by the ignition switch recall defect. Barra has said the company will report an estimated total for settlements by the time it reports second-quarter earnings July 24.
Will backseat passengers qualify for GM recall compensation?
One unresolved question in the process of determining the amount of a General Motors settlement fund is whether GM will offer settlements to victims sitting in the back seat of cars in ignition-switch-defected cars involved in accidents. Those protesting the automaker’s current refusal to include back-seat victims in a running total of people affected by the defect include the stepfather of 18-year-old Natasha Weigel, killed in a 2006 accident in Wisconsin. The defect can cause the smaller GM cars to turn off while driving, disempowering frontal airbags in a frontal collision. Weigel sees GM’s current stance as unconscionable: back-seat passengers, too, in other words, demand compensation for their pain and suffering.
Lawyers involved in the GM settlement fund decision-making process are currently drafting preliminary compensation plans and inviting the confidential feedback of other lawyers, public interest groups, GM and other interested parties.
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Founded in 1967, The Sanders Law Firm has flourished into one of New York’s most successful personal injury practices, with an accomplished team of attorneys, paralegals, health care consultants, and support staff. Our trial attorneys take new cases on a contingency basis, which means there is no cost to the client unless we secure monetary damages on your behalf.
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