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In re Carey11/26/2002
their usefulness, determine whether they could be implemented in the class action . . . .
Newman also said that Carey and Danis knew that Chrysler was very hesitant to interplead or sue a critical supplier because of the way its supply lines were managed.
f somebody was thinking of suing Chrysler and knew . . . that Chrysler had a predisposition against bringing in third parties, you would know in contemplating a suit against Chrysler that it would be relatively efficient in that Chrysler wouldn't bring in everybody else in the world that might be involved or had a bearing with that particular component or product and that you could tailor your claims accordingly to focus just on Chrysler and not have to worry about suppliers and the like.
Newman testified that, although the component parts differed, there were many similarities in available defenses, such as statute of limitations, improper certification of the class, improper class representatives, and improper assertion of claims. Finally, Newman indicated that many expert witnesses overlap: economists, automotive repair experts and human factor engineers. Newman testified that " he Respondents . . . learn which experts Chrysler chose to use and not use." He stressed that Carey and Danis helped formulate Chrysler's defense strategy in class action product liability cases involving Chrysler minivans.
William McClelland confirmed that Carey and Danis were "made aware about the types of information Chrysler kept, the sources of information within Chrysler relevant to the defense of a product liability class action lawsuit involving the minivan." McClelland testified that respondents' specific knowledge of the minivan would be extraordinarily helpful.
he minivan was incredibly important to Chrysler. It still is today. I'm not sure the public fully understands its importance to our profitability. They know Chrysler makes solid minivans, but not I think the importance that we attach to it internally.
We were just coming out with a brand-new minivan at the time. We had put over a billion dollars investment into that minivan and were very concerned from a marketing and public relations perspective.
One of the strategies of the plaintiffs' bar would be to muddy our name. We noticed during that time Ford was coming out with ads touting its safety record.
Carey's and Danis' first-hand knowledge of the minivan's importance would allow them to "know what hot buttons to push."
Lewis Goldfarb also discussed respondents' work for Chrysler. Goldfarb testified that Carey and Danis had access to "detailed, internal information and analysis done by the in-house legal department, as well as [Chrysler] engineers and other personnel, regarding the status of a confidential government investigation . . . ." He emphasized that Carey and Danis had a "road map as to how we [Chrysler] look at and analyze alleged defects concerning our products."
The "road map" Goldfarb spoke of referred to a "matrix" or "blueprint" that the Chrysler team -- including John Carey and Joseph Danis -- developed to formulate Chrysler's defense to class action product liability cases involving Chrysler minivans. The team prepared a matrix of all considerations that Chrysler should consider in deciding whether or not to settle the minivan latch cases. This matrix listed relevant criteria and matched those criteria with a factual scenario. For each scenario, the team gave thoughts about the applicability of the criteria and its impact on the company. The matrix also included a form of a decision tree. The decision tree visually described the different scenarios and their implica
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