Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee Selected in VW MDL

On January 21, 2016, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer announced his appointments for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Volkswagen multidistrict litigation (“MDL”). Breyer named San Francisco plaintiff’s attorney, Elizabeth Cabraser, as the head of the committee of 22 attorneys. Cabraser is a co-founder of the firm, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, and has been a leader in 17 other MDLs. In his order, Judge Breyer said, “Ms. Cabraser will effectively represent and guide the plaintiffs towards a resolution that is in their best interests.”

The contest to gain a spot on the steering committee was fierce; the pool was comprised of 150 lawyers, making it one of the largest in class action history. The hearing, which took place on January 21, lasted several hours and was so well attended that attorneys were forced to stand in aisles and in the hall outside the courtroom while awaiting their turn to present a two-minute speech to Judge Breyer.

Many big names in the legal profession were vying for a spot on the steering committee, including former presidential candidate, John Edwards, and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, Joseph Russoniello. Breyer advised the hopeful attorneys that he was picking lawyers, not law firms. Breyer said that geographical diversity also played a part in his selections; he gave more weight to attorneys from states with a large number of plaintiffs. 

The full steering committee order can be found here: http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/ca/BREYERorder.pdf.

The case is: In Re: Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2672, 3:15-md-02672

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