The claim on behalf of a national class was added, he said, only because a similar case was filed in California, where Kia America is based, and the plaintiffs lawyers wanted to prevent Kia from settling that case for a national class.Īs a result, Donovan said, the New Jersey decision by Union County Judge Edward Beglin Jr. Kia Motors America Inc., was originally filed only on behalf of a class of New Jersey residents.
Plaintiffs' attorney Donovan said the New Jersey case, Little v. Silverman of Kimmel & Silverman.įor Kia's lawyers, Joseph Kernen and Neal Walters of Piper Rudnick, the ruling is a setback that comes on the heels of a victory in October when a New Jersey state court judge held that Sephia owners cannot pursue their claims in a national class action. Feldman and Thomas More Marrone of Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter & Tanner and Craig Thor Kimmel and Robert M. Mailman of Francis & Mailman Michael Donovan and David Searles, Donovan Searles Alan M. The ruling is a victory for the team of plaintiffs' lawyers who filed the suit – James A. Instead, Joyner found that there was "sufficient evidence" that Kia "had knowledge that a vast number of its Sephia automobiles between at least 19 required replacement of brake pads and rotors at intervals of less than 5,000 miles." Curtis Joyner rejected defense arguments that the case was unsuitable for class treatment because the individual owners would each have to prove that their cars suffered from the alleged defect. In his 25-page opinion in Samuel-Bassett v.
Duffy U.S., Courthouse Correspondent, The Legal IntelligencerĪ federal judge has certified a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 10,000 Pennsylvania owners of the Sephia model of Kia cars manufactured from 1997 to 2001 that alleges the cars suffer from widespread problems in the brake systems that cause premature wear, vibration and increased stopping distance.
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