Post by JerseyBluEyz on Jan 23, 2004 23:14:55 GMT -5
If this suit is judged in Suzuki’s favor, you might as well kiss Consumer Reports magazine good bye. They haven’t lost a suit yet, let’s keep our fingers crossed. I’d hate to see this informative magazine go under (it would be another level in the war on suppression of truth!).
www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1074259221279
Excerpt of article:
The last Samurai, Suzuki's knockabout sport utility vehicle, rolled off the assembly line in 1995. The Japanese automaker retired the popular model after just seven years of production.
Suzuki lawyer George F. Ball blames the early demise on Consumer Reports magazine, which heavily publicized the SUV's rollover potential. "They wouldn't leave it alone," he said.
At least, that's the case that Ball will soon roll out before an Orange County, Calif., jury.
Alleging a type of defamation known as product disparagement, the automaker is seeking $60 million in damages from the magazine's corporate parent, Consumers Union (C.U.).
For the magazine and publications like it, the stakes may be much higher.
Last spring, a federal appeals judge warned that a loss by Consumers Unions at trial could signal the death knell for the entire consumer ratings industry.
Brushing aside the financial consequences, Consumers' lead trial attorney, Steven N. Williams, said, "I don't think they could survive the judgment of the public if they did what Suzuki said they did."
Courtroom history, however, appears to be on the magazine's side.
Since it was founded in 1936 by a group of activists that included American Civil Liberties Union founder Roger Baldwin and Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters organizer A. Philip Randolph, Consumers Union has never lost or settled a product disparagement suit.
Among the 14 losing plaintiffs are F. Korbel & Bros., purveyors of Korbel Champagne; the car battery manufacturer Exide Technologies; the Bose Corp., a maker of high-end stereo speakers; and Isuzu Motors.
Isuzu lost a four-week trial in 2000. Bose won $115,000 at trial in 1981, then lost in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Waiting in the wings is another case, filed by the high-end home products retailer the Sharper Image, which sued in September.
www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1074259221279
Excerpt of article:
The last Samurai, Suzuki's knockabout sport utility vehicle, rolled off the assembly line in 1995. The Japanese automaker retired the popular model after just seven years of production.
Suzuki lawyer George F. Ball blames the early demise on Consumer Reports magazine, which heavily publicized the SUV's rollover potential. "They wouldn't leave it alone," he said.
At least, that's the case that Ball will soon roll out before an Orange County, Calif., jury.
Alleging a type of defamation known as product disparagement, the automaker is seeking $60 million in damages from the magazine's corporate parent, Consumers Union (C.U.).
For the magazine and publications like it, the stakes may be much higher.
Last spring, a federal appeals judge warned that a loss by Consumers Unions at trial could signal the death knell for the entire consumer ratings industry.
Brushing aside the financial consequences, Consumers' lead trial attorney, Steven N. Williams, said, "I don't think they could survive the judgment of the public if they did what Suzuki said they did."
Courtroom history, however, appears to be on the magazine's side.
Since it was founded in 1936 by a group of activists that included American Civil Liberties Union founder Roger Baldwin and Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters organizer A. Philip Randolph, Consumers Union has never lost or settled a product disparagement suit.
Among the 14 losing plaintiffs are F. Korbel & Bros., purveyors of Korbel Champagne; the car battery manufacturer Exide Technologies; the Bose Corp., a maker of high-end stereo speakers; and Isuzu Motors.
Isuzu lost a four-week trial in 2000. Bose won $115,000 at trial in 1981, then lost in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Waiting in the wings is another case, filed by the high-end home products retailer the Sharper Image, which sued in September.
