Hawkins Parnell & Young has represented many of the major manufacturers and dealers of automobiles in a variety of litigation for decades. Our diverse team of litigators specialize in defending automotive warranty litigation involving consumer protection laws, product liability, and accusations of fraud. In addition to managing and defending litigation as national and regional counsel, Hawkins Parnell's attorneys have significant trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts across the country.

With a multidisciplinary team, Hawkins Parnell is equipped with the most advanced skills and current knowledge for navigating the latest developments in automotive warranty litigation. We collaborate with clients to develop cutting-edge litigation strategies to reduce the overall spend on warranty litigation nationwide and target troublesome plaintiff’s experts.

Hawkins Parnell has access to the most qualified experts for defending automotive warranty litigation, including from many specialties in the engineering, forensics, economics, and medical fields. We have vast experience working alongside of experts in both pre-trial and trial phases to defend against dubious claims by plaintiffs. Our team also coordinates training sessions with experts on specific technical topics and for demonstrations with exemplar vehicle components to deepen our understanding of the issues.

California

Hawkins Parnell developed a team of trial lawyers in the Los Angeles and San Francisco offices to combat the growing trend of lemon law litigation in California. Due to the fee-shifting provision of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, we understand the litigation is driven by plaintiff’s attorney’s fees. Our team has collaborated with in-house counsel to develop aggressive litigation strategies to stop the abuses in California by plaintiff lawyers, including making early and accurate evaluations of cases, vigorously opposing plaintiffs’ motions for fees, and trying cases. We have managed and defended over 500 warranty matters throughout California, including taking 11 cases to verdict; many of these cases involved claims for fraud and punitive damages.

Our team is on the frontline of changing the landscape in California. Recently Hawkins Parnell secured a landmark ruling before the Court of Appeal of the State of California, which affirmed the unanimous defense verdict in which we successfully limited the testimony of expert Anthony Micale. This was the first time a trial court limited the testimony of Mr. Micale and an appellate court affirmed the ruling in California. Generally, decisions of the Court of Appeal are not certified for publication – but our team felt the opinion’s impact was of widespread importance to the public and policy-makers. Hawkins Parnell submitted a letter requesting publication and coordinated the submission of amicus letters by BMW and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel. The Court of Appeal certified the opinion for publication one day after receiving the letters requesting publication.