Toyota MDL Judge Issues Discovery Order

The judge overseeing the Toyota unintended acceleration MDL has issued an order permitting expanded discovery. In Re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 8:10ML2151 JVS (Order No. 5: Phase I Discovery Plan, July 20, 2010).

Judge Selna (C.D. Calif.) noted that the Phase I Discovery Plan being promulgated was intended solely to educate the parties about foundational issues involved in the litigation, including the identification of the proper parties to this litigation, the identity of relevant third-parties, organizational structure, the identify of relevant witnesses, and identity, nature, and location of relevant documents. The court expects that discovery on foundational issues during Phase I will enable the parties to develop a more narrowly tailored discovery plan for subsequent phases of the litigation and to be more focused, economical and efficient in subsequent phases of discovery. In addition to the foundational information to be provided to plaintiffs by Toyota, Phase I will also provide Toyota the opportunity to obtain foundational, threshold information from plaintiffs, the class representatives, and relevant third-parties.

Phase I Discovery will last for 100 days, and the parties agreed the Phase I discovery plan needs to be coordinated to the extent feasible with related cases pending in state courts.

Under the order, the Toyota Defendants are to produce witnesses pursuant to Rule 30(b)(6) to testify concerning the twenty-one issues, including:

• organizational structure,

• the roles and responsibilities of each of the various Toyota companies with respect to the design, manufacture and sale of Toyota vehicles,

• the identity, nature, location and retention of documents related to the design, evaluation, manufacture, and testing of the ETCS system and any modifications or adaptations of the ETCS system for Toyota vehicles,

• the identity of the persons and departments involved in the design, evaluation, testing and manufacture of the ETCS and its components,

• the identity, nature, location and retention of documents related to information Toyotas has received about speed control, surge, and SUA events in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, including specifically warranty records, customer complaints, claims and lawsuits,

• procedures employed for investigating and responding to complaints of unintended acceleration by owners or operations of any Toyota vehicles, and

• the internal decision-making process by the Toyota Defendants about what and when to inform Toyota customers, governmental agencies and the public about SUA events and the identities of the persons and departments involved in that decision-making process and the identity of the persons and departments involved in that process.

The court ruled that during this litigation the parties must endeavor to avoid duplicative depositions or repetitive questions and to avoid deposing any witness more than once on the same subject matter. But it held off on ruling on Toyota’s position that no Toyota witness deposed during Phase I

would be deposed again in subsequent phases of this litigation on the same subject matter, except by agreement of the parties. Plaintiffs did not agree with Toyota’s position.

Plaintiffs are to provide completed Plaintiff Fact Sheets and Class Representative Fact Sheets, including the production of any documents responsive to the fact sheets. Fact Sheet Responses to information requests are deemed interrogatory responses pursuant to FRCP 33 and may be treated as such at time of trial, under the order. Responses have to set forth all information known or reasonably ascertainable to the party and/or their counsel. The parties are obligated to make a reasonable search and diligent inquiry for information or documents responsive to the request.

Fact Sheet Responses to document requests and the production of documents are deemed responses and production under FRCP 34.

Additionally, the Toyota Defendants shall be permitted to conduct inspections of the subject vehicles. Plaintiffs and class representatives have to identify whether the subject vehicle exists, and if so, its current location, general condition, and vehicle identification number, if known. The parties agreed that vehicle inspections would be permitted commencing in Phase I. The protocol for vehicle inspections will apparently be determined on a case-by-case basis.