Cases
Representative Cases: Mal Wheeler is known for his long history of civil defense victories, especially in product liability
class action lawsuits. Mal has served as national trial counsel for Ford, Pfizer,
Nissan,
national class action counsel for Whirlpool. In 2000, he won for Honda before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that established the st
ard for federal preemption arguments in airbag litigation.
Travelers v. Stresscon, 2016 CO 22M - Won Colorado Supreme Court reversal of a unanimous court of appeals ruling in a case of national importance to the insurance industry. In its ruling for Travelers, the Court held that the notice-prejudice rule does not apply to no-voluntary-payment provisions in insurance policies. This was WTO's fifth consecutive, fully-argued victory before the Colorado Supreme Court in two-
-a-half years. Law360 named Stresscon one of the top five insurance rulings of 2016.
Assisted a biotech company in an appellate briefing before the Federal Circuit, resulting in reversal of an adverse summary judgment
rem
to the state court where our client had filed the complaint.
Wirsz v. Nissan (Cal. Los Angeles Cnty. Super. Ct.) - Won a unanimous defense verdict in California Superior Court for Nissan in a lawsuit involving a claim that an allegedly defective seat system resulted in the plaintiff's quadriplegia following a horrific car crash.
Hudgins v. Southwest Airlines, 212 P.3d 810 (Ariz. App. 2009) - Obtained 88% reduction in the appeal of a punitive damages award.
Rush v. Whirlpool (W.D. Ark. 2008) - Defeated certification of a multistate class action in Arkansas federal court involving claims that certain Whirlpool-made refrigerators were defective.
McNellis v. Pfizer (3d Cir. 2008) - Won a major appeal for Pfizer in a groundbreaking preemption case before the Third Circuit.
Dennis v. Whirlpool (S.D. Fla. 2007) - Obtained dismissal with prejudice of plaintiffs' class action allegations in a putative nationwide class action alleging that more than one million of Whirlpool's refrigerators were defective.
White v. Ford, 500 F.3d 963 (9th Cir. 2007) - Won a reversal
a new trial on the punitive damages phase of a product liability case originally tried by another firm in 1998. Persuaded the second jury to award only one-third of the amount awarded in the initial trial.
Dusek v. Pfizer - Obtained summary judgment for Pfizer on preemption grounds in a case alleging that a popular antidepressant caused suicide.
Estrada v. Nissan - Defeated class status
a recall attempt against Nissan in a putative class action involving airbags.
Miller v. Pfizer - Won exclusion of a star expert for the plaintiffs in antidepressant suicide litigation
won summary judgment for Pfizer in federal court in Kansas in a case alleging that the company's antidepressant led to the suicide of a minor.
Motus v. Pfizer - Obtained summary judgment for Pfizer in a case in California alleging wrongful death, failure to warn,
other claims involving the company's popular antidepressant.
Geier v. American Honda, 529 U.S. 861 (2000) - Won a U.S. Supreme Court victory for Honda in a precedent-setting case involving federal preemption st
ards as applied to airbags in the automotive industry.
Tebbetts v. Ford - Won a New Hampshire no airbag trial for Ford before getting all no-airbag cases held preempted in Geier in the U.S. Supreme Court.
LeJeune v. Ford - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Martinez v. Ford - Affirmed summary judgment on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag claim.
Lebouef v. Ford - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Wolfe v. Ford - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Barnhill v. Ford - Won a favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Hubbard v. Ford - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Turnquest v. Ford - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Waters v. Ford - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Angelopolus v. Ford - Obtained a favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Martin v. Ford - Obtained a favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Teitloff v. Valcon Materials - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Winters v. Ford - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Wright v. Ford - Favorable decision on federal preemption grounds in a no-airbag case.
Marrs v. Ford - Affirmed a lower court decision granting summary judgment to Ford on federal preemption of a no-airbag claim.
Williams v. Whirlpool - Defended a fire fatality case alleging design defects in appliance.
Montag v. Honda - Response to plaintiffs' appeal of trial court defense verdict
granting of summary judgment. Defense verdict affirmed
favorable summary judgment decision affirmed.
Harris v. Ford - Loss of summary judgment on federal preemption grounds in no-airbag claim appealed
reversed.
Steenbergen v. Ford Motor Co. - Represented Ford Motor Co. in the first no-airbag case tried to a verdict.
Macko v. Ford - Federal preemption on inadequate warning labels claim.
Nguyen v. Whirlpool - Directed verdict on manufacturing defect
hung jury
case settled.
In re Ford Explorer Cases (Cal. Sacramento Cnty. Super. Ct. 2007) - Defended Ford Motor Co. in a four-month certified class action trial involving $2 billion in consumer fraud claims. On the day set for closing arguments, the plaintiffs agreed to a no-cash, coupon-based settlement for the California class
classes in three other states with pending parallel actions.
Maheu v. Summa - Defended a defamation action against Howard Hughes by the fired head of his Nevada operations.
State of Indiana v. Ford - Represented Ford Motor Co. against criminal charges of reckless homicide in the design of the Pinto automobile.
Oja v. Howmedica - Jury award in hip implant case
reversed by Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
case settled.
Binakonsky v. Ford, 133 F.3d 281 (4th Cir. 1998) - Obtained summary judgment from the district court in a design defect case. When plaintiffs appealed, the Court of Appeals affirmed in part, reversed in part,
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ed.
Gray v. Ford - First airbag fatality case tried to verdict.
