Aitken*Aitken*Cohn congratulates Jere Beasley, Graham Esdale, and Cole Portis of Beasley Allen for their great results for their clients in Toyota trial

October 28, 2013

Aitken*Aitken*Cohn would like to congratulate Jere Beasley, Graham Esdale, and Cole Portis of Beasley Allen of Alabama for their settlement with Toyota Motors after a jury returned a $3 million verdict against Toyota in an unintended acceleration case tried in Oklahoma. In September 2007, Jean Bookout and her friend and passenger were exiting a highway in Oklahoma in a 2005 Camry. While attempting to exit the ramp, Bookout was unable to stop the vehicle even after pulling on the vehicle’s emergency parking brake. Despite Bookout’s attempts to stop the vehicle, the Camry slammed into an embankment causing fatal and severe injuries. Barbara Schwartz, the passenger, died of her injuries. Bookout spent two months recovering from her injuries caused by the collision. After trial, the jury awarded plaintiffs $3 million and indicated punitive damages were appropriate. Toyota settled the matter for a confidential amount before the punitive damages phase of the trial began.

Aitken*Aitken*Cohn continues to serve as national liaison counsel in the Federal multi-district litigation against Toyota for the unintended acceleration of its vehicles. Earlier this year, the economic loss cases against Toyota were resolved through a record-setting settlement of $1,630,000,000 for Toyota vehicle owners in the largest automobile class action lawsuit in U.S. history. Wylie Aitken, Darren Aitken, and Ashleigh Aitken of Aitken*Aitken*Cohn continue to support the plaintiffs involved in the many Toyota cases and continue to fight against the injustices that plaintiffs face nationwide.

See the article in the Washington Post, and other papers across the country, in which Wylie Aitken observes that this great result “could be a game-changer to get the compensation the plaintiffs are entitled to.”