BOSTON — The ATAC (Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium), a federation of
consumer law firms filing lawsuits against Toyota across the nation, has grown
to 22 law firms in 16 states, with more states being planned, it announced Feb.
10.
ATAC also announced that a court hearing on consolidation of the national
litigation is expected to be heard before a multidistrict panel in U.S. District
Court in San Diego on March 25, 2010.
The ATAC effort is coordinated by Dr. P. Tim Howard, a professor of Law and
Policy at Northeastern University, who is known for his national legal work in
consumer law cases. Howard coordinated the legal team in the Florida tobacco
lawsuit in the 1990s that led to a $20 billion settlement with the state of
Florida and a national settlement of $250 billion, and is currently co-counsel
representing 3,600 victims of cigarette-related diseases in Florida.
According to ATAC, Toyota owners nationwide have seen the value of their
vehicles plummet as a result of avoidable problems with a wide range of Toyota
models. Toyota owners have also lost the use of their vehicles for significant
periods of time. Published reports indicate Toyota officials knew about the
problems as early as 2004, yet news coverage also indicates that rather than
putting American consumers first, Toyota avoided addressing problems, destroyed
and hid documents, and continued to pocket billions of American consumer's
dollars by falsely selling Toyota vehicles as the "quality" choice, it said.
Along with fellow Florida attorneys, Howard filed one of the consortium's
first lawsuits for $1 billion in damages in Florida on Feb. 4, 2010.
In addition to Dr. Howard, key members of the ATAC team include Stephen A.
Sheller and Brian J. McCormick Jr. of Sheller P.C. in Philadelphia. In
California, ATAC is led by Larry Gornick of Levin Simes Kaiser & Gornick in
San Francisco. In New York, the litigation is led by attorney James F. Haggerty,
who is also among the nation's leading experts on effective public relations
during lawsuits.
In addition to Toyota vehicles with problems related to sudden acceleration,
the ATAC Team is now also preparing cases involving braking issues with the
Toyota Prius — the subject of a recall announcement in February of nearly
500,000 cars worldwide.