Evidence shows tenacity of plaintiffs' attorney in Toyota case

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-toyota-lawyer-20100618,0,487497.story

Mark P. Robinson Jr., a co-lead counsel in the lawsuits facing the carmaker over alleged sudden unintended acceleration, has a history of doing what it takes to get the proof and win in court.

By Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times

June 18, 2010

In a legal career spanning nearly four decades, attorney Mark P. Robinson Jr. has won multimillion-dollar verdicts against carmakers Ford, General Motors, Nissan and Hyundai.

Now, the Newport Beach lawyer has been tapped to play a big role in the massive legal battle involving Toyota Motor Corp., which faces potentially billions of dollars of liability from lawsuits involving the alleged sudden unintended acceleration of its vehicles.

Robinson, co-lead plaintiffs' attorney in the wrongful death and personal injury cases pending against Toyota in federal court, is known for going to unusual lengths to build evidence that can swing a case.

On the eve of a 1978 trial that focused on vulnerable fuel tanks in Ford Motor Co.'s Pintos, Robinson walked onto a Ford dealership in Orange County and started interviewing mechanics. A few days later, he called one of those mechanics to the witness stand — still wearing his blue dealership uniform. The testimony would be key to a landmark $128-million verdict, at the time the largest in U.S. history.

He once hired a private investigator to post a flier in the locker room of a General Motors Corp. plant in Michigan, offering a reward to any welders who had worked on the 1978 Oldsmobile Omega. He wanted to know why one particular Omega had fewer welds than others. The car had crumpled during a rear-end collision, gravely injuring a passenger in the back seat.

"Deer-hunting season," came the explanation from a GM welder who responded to the locker-room advertisement. Many employees took the day off when deer season opened each Nov. 15, the day that particular car was built, and quality suffered as a result. Robinson flew the welder to California, where his testimony was key to a $9.1-million verdict against GM.

FULL story at link.

[Canuckistanian]

1. I wish him luck

This isn't 1978 anymore. Car companies now have more lawyers than a "creative legal billing" convention.

[Selatius]

2. The government is more corporatized as well, with more right wing judges on the bench.

Things really have changed since the 60s and 70s.