RALPH HOAR
IN MEMORIAM

Raging Hoar Moans
Automotive News Publisher Says
End Litigation Secrecy

"Company lawyers are getting away with murder," writes Automotive News publisher Keith Crain in and editorial this week. Crain, scion of the Crain publishing empire that includes Automotive News, the granddaddy and most respected auto industry trade publications, is calling for an end to protective orders in product litigation.

Crain challenges the "long and hallowed tradition in the lawsuit business" of clamping a lid of secrecy on damaging information found by plaintiffs' attorneys during litigation. "If a car or any other product has a serious safety-related problem we should be able to learn what the problem might be," Crain says. "In too many cases, when a settlement is reached in a lawsuit, the evidence is kept out of any public record and cannot be accessed by anyone, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration." Rhetorically, he asks "Does the right of the defendant, after paying the settlement which also is secret supercede the right of the public?" "When public safety is involved, it's time for a change, and the Ford-Firestone situation proves the point," Crain says. "The present situation simply doesn't make any sense, and it is a real danger to the public," Crain concludes.

A Safetyforum.com analysis of Ford-Firestone litigation revealed that before NHTSA knew enough about the problem to open a defect investigation, Ford and Firestone had settled more than 150 lawsuits with protective orders. Those suits involved at least 35 deaths and 130 injuries associated with Firestone tire failure and Ford Explorer rollovers.

OPTSF1190

11/1/00