The California jury trial of Ault-Smietana v. Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A., received accolades as a Law360 "Top Product Liability Verdict In The First Half of 2015." Bowman and Brooke represented Yamaha in the California JCCP involving its Rhino off-road vehicle.
The verdict was recognized for its significance as the eleventh and final case to go to trial in the mass tort, which at one point had more than 275 cases filed. The case also reinforced the importance and necessity of defense counsel's ability to strongly present the facts and the law when faced with the challenge of trying an emotionally-charged product liability case in front of a jury.
Yamaha was represented by Paul Cereghini, Timothy Mattson, Jenny Covington and Travis Wheeler of Bowman and Brooke LLP and Brian Gabel of the Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A. legal department.
View a full report of the verdict in the Verdicts and Case Studies section of our website.