CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, April 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --General Motors' legal team asked a Federal Judge to deny a Texas law firm, Hilliard Munoz Gonzales (HMG) LLP's request for documents GM submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The documents explain details of the defective ignition switch recall. Bob Hilliard, partner at HMG, requested that GM provide the documents prior to HMG's April 11 response to GM's April 9 sur-reply.
Hilliard is leading the call for General Motors to issue an emergency "Park It Now" alert to GM vehicles with defective ignition switches. On April 4, he filed a request for Federal Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to issue a mandatory injunction requiring GM to send an emergency alert to drivers of affected GM vehicles to stop driving the cars immediately.
GM initially objected to Hilliard submitting the April 11 response to GM's sur-reply, but the court gave Hilliard leave to respond.
"SMOKE SCREEN"
GM refused to share complete NHTSA documents on the grounds that they "are not relevant" to the case at hand. Hilliard replied: "With all due respect to GM, its response is a smoke screen. The NHTSA believed the documents relevant and ordered them produced-which makes these documents, and the new facts included in the documentation, extremely relevant to both the NHTSA and, as a result of our Emergency Motion, to (our case)."
RECORDS WITHHELD FROM ATTORNEYS AND THE PUBLIC
GM submitted 200,000 pages of records and answered more than 65% of the 107 questions NHTSA has asked about the events leading to the recall. GM refuses to share these already-produced documents and the NHTSA has yet to release a timetable on when the information will be made public.
SAVE LIVES: PARK THE CARS
Bob Hilliard said during the April 4 Federal Court hearing: "This affects over 2 million vehicles, the defect is severe and lives are being lost. The devastation is heartbreaking and immeasurable. This is a human safety issue that is ongoing. I would not wish it on anyone in this courtroom on either side of the table. Keep tomorrow's victim alive by making sure these cars are parked."
Judge Ramos gave GM's legal team until April 9th to file their sur-reply to Hilliard's motion. Hilliard will respond to the sur-reply on April 11.
ABOUT HMG
Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP (HMG) specializes in mass torts, personal injury, product liability, commercial and business litigation, and wrongful death. The firm has won approximately $100,000,000 in settlements and verdicts for its clients. Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP has been successfully representing clients in the United States and Mexico since 1986.
HMG is actively seeking to represent other victims of GM's defective vehicles.
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SOURCE Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP
