James Azadian (JD '01) Featured in Top Defense Verdicts of 2020 -- Daily Journal

Pepperdine Caruso Law alumnus and Board of Advisors member James S. Azadian (JD '01) is recognized in the Daily Journal's annual special report, "Top Verdicts: The Largest and Most Significant Verdicts and Appellate Reversals in California in 2020." Azadian was part of a team representing Kia Motors, in the case Stroud et al. v. Kia Motors America Inc. et al., which is named as one of the "Top Defense Verdicts of 2020."

Via Dykema Gossett PLLC:

In February 2020, a jury ruled in favor of Dykema's automotive product liability defense team representing Kia Motors America, Kia Motors Corporation, and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (collectively, "KIA") in a case seeking more than $87M in damages in the Superior Court of Los Angeles. Plaintiffs claimed that electronic faults in the Transmission Control Module of a 2016 KIA Optima caused the power steering assist to fail and malfunction, which contributed to or caused the vehicle to veer off a highway and crash. The Dykema team called a human factors expert and several technical experts to defend against these claims, including an electrical engineer and a power steering engineer to opine on the relevant systems called into question. Dykema demonstrated that the power steering system did not malfunction, and that driver distraction likely caused the crash. After deliberating for just 90 minutes the jury returned a defense verdict in favor of KIA, determining that the manufacturer was not responsible for any damages occurring in the accident.

The Dykema team representing KIA was led by James Feeney and included Dommond Lonnie, Mike Carey, James Azadian, and Cory Webster.

Additional information may be found here

The Daily Journal feature may be found here (subscription required)