Media & Results

HOUSTON — A state district judge has appointed Houston lawyer Richard Mithoff to the executive team of lawyers who will lead all Texas consolidated state court cases involving the General Motors Ignition Switch litigation.

State district Judge Robert Schaffer of the 152^nd District Court in Harris County appointed the plaintiff’s team of five lawyers, which included Mithoff, Bob Hilliard, Mark Lanier, Jeff Wiggington and Scott West. Hilliard and Lanier were appointed co-lead counsel.

All pretrial proceedings in the product liability cases filed against GM in state court throughout Texas have been consolidated by the Texas Supreme Court to be heard before Judge Schaffer.

Mithoff, of Mithoff Law in Houston, has successfully represented clients in many national cases and   lead plaintiffs’ teams in litigation against Breakstone/Firestone involving rollovers due to defective tires; representing Texas counties (and specifically Harris County) against major tobacco companies for medical costs incurred by patients at county hospitals due to smoking; and representing families of elderly victims who died in a fiery bus explosion as they were fleeing Hurricane Rita.

The Texas cases are separate from federal multi-district litigation pending before U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in the Southern District of New York, but they will be coordinated through Furman.

GM has recalled vehicles with the faulty ignition switch, including:

• Buick Lacrosse — 2005-2009
• Buick Lucerne — 2006-2011
• Buick Regal LS & GS —     2004-2005
• Cadillac Deville — 2000-2005
• Cadillac CTS — 2003-2014
• Cadillac DTS — 2004-2011
• Cadillac SRX — 2004-2006
• Camaro — 2010-2014
• Chevrolet Cobalt — 2005-2010
• Chevrolet HHR — 2006-2011
• Chevrolet Impala — 2000-2014
• Chevrolet Malibu — 1997-2005
• Chevy Monte Carlo — 2000-2008
• Daewoo G2X — 2007-2009
• Oldsmobile Alero — 1999-2004
• Oldsmobile Intrigue — 1998-2002
• Opel/Vauxhall GT — 2007-2010
• Pontiac G4 —2005-2006
• Pontiac G5 — 2007-2010
• Pontiac Grand Am — 1999-2005
• Pontiac Grand Prix — 2004-2008
• Pontiac Pursuit — 2005-2006
• Pontiac Solstice — 2006-2010
• Saturn Ion — 2003-2007
• Saturn Sky — 2007-2010

The latest lawsuit filed after a January oilfield helicopter crash in a Terrebonne marsh killed eight people alleges that a replacement windshield and the negligence of the aircraft’s owner and manufacturer are to blame.

The families of 23 elderly residents of a Bellaire nursing home who died in a bus fire near Dallas while evacuating from Hurricane Rita two years ago have reached a settlement with the owners of the nursing home, attorneys in Houston confirmed.

Ohio company to pay recipients of artificial joints

The medical manufacturer that recalled 40,000 faulty artificial hips in December 2000 — thousands of them already implanted in patients — has agreed to pay damages to settle law suits, attorneys announced.

Vacuum pumps, which power cockpit instruments in small airplanes, have contributed to at least 82 deaths in 36 crashes since 1980, including a 1998 crash in New Orleans that killed three Denton County residents, safety reports indicate.

A Houston attorney leading the charge against Ford and Firestone knew there was a problem, but couldn’t talk

Beating big corporations with big verdicts made Richard Mithoff one of the country’s best known product liability attorneys.