CORAL GABLES, Fla. (March 20, 2015) – Attorney Curtis Miner, a partner at the Coral Gables-based trial law firm Colson Hicks Eidson, was appointed by U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno in Miami, Florida as one of the Lead Counsel in the Takata airbag product liability multidistrict litigation. More than 20 of the nation’s top plaintiffs firms applied for the appointments. Miner, along with attorneys Peter Prieto of Miami, Todd Smith of Chicago, and David Boies of New York, secured the coveted roles to represent plaintiffs’ claims and lead the litigation against Takata, the world’s second largest manufacturer of automotive safety devices, Honda and most of the other major car manufactures.
Judge Moreno assigned two tracks to the case; a Personal Injury Track and an Economic Damages Track. Miner was selected Lead Counsel for the Personal Injury Tack and will be primarily responsible for handling discovery of the underlying products liability issues in coordination with the Economic Damages Track.
“I am honored to have been appointed by Judge Moreno for this leadership position,” said Miner. “This is an extremely important case not just for our clients, but for auto safety and the public more generally. I look forward to working with my esteemed co-counsel.”
“We are proud and honored that Curt was selected. He is an extremely talented attorney with a great legal mind,” said Lewis S. Mike Eidson, partner at Colson Hicks Eidson, who will be assisting Miner with the case.
More than 85 cases have been filed around the country and consolidated in Miami Federal Court. Plaintiffs assert that Takata designed and manufactured airbags that are dangerous and defective, exploding violently with metal debris and shrapnel in otherwise minor collisions, posing a substantial risk of serious injury or death to drivers and passengers. Plaintiffs also allege that Takata had knowledge that the airbags were dangerous and defective, but kept that knowledge and intentionally concealed the facts from consumers. In addition to Takata, several automakers have been named as defendants in some of the cases, including Honda Motor Co, BMW, Ford Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co Ltd, Subaru Co Ltd and Toyota Motor Corp.
Over the past 13 years, four deaths and 139 injuries have been attributed to the defective Takata airbags. Recent reports have found that Florida has the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by the exploding airbags than any other state. The National Highway Safety Administration estimates that since 2008 automakers, through more than 30 recall campaigns, have recalled approximately 17 million vehicles with defective Takata airbags.
An experienced trial attorney, Miner has been representing individuals and businesses in all forms of civil litigation for 15 years. Throughout his career, he has tried over two dozen cases to jury verdict as a prosecutor and civil litigator. A former Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, Miner also spent 5 years in the Major Crimes, National Security and Public Corruptions Sections taking on high profile cases. He has earned the respect of his peers and has received top honors in leading legal publications such as Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America. Miner graduated from Yale University and earned his law degree from Harvard Law School.
Colson Hicks Eidson is nationally recognized for its work on some of the largest automotive recalls in U.S. history. The firm served as the national co-lead counsel in the Ford-Firestone multidistrict litigation and on the plaintiffs’ leadership committee in the multidistrict litigation against Toyota Motor Corp over sudden unintended acceleration. The firm has also served on the national plaintiffs’ steering committee for litigation surrounding the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill and high-sulfur Chinese Drywall.
For more information call 305-476-7400.
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About Colson Hicks Eidson
The Law Firm of Colson Hicks Eidson is a trial firm with more than 40 years of experience handling local, national and international litigation. Partners at the firm have had the distinction of holding the following offices: President of the 60,000-member American Association for Justice; President of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; President of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers; President of the Dade County Bar Association; President of the Miami-Dade Florida Association of Women Lawyers; United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; and Chairman of the Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission. For more information, call 305-476-7400.