Greaseball ambulance chaser John Edwards to go after Volkswagen

[DigitalDrifter]

I don't feel sorry for Volkswagen, but with lawyers like this, especially this particular one makes me actually root for the company.

John Edwards (yes, that one) looks to profit from Volkswagen lawsuits in his day job as a lawyer

Just when you thought the Volkswagen emissions drama couldn't become any more of a circus, a disgraced former politician knocks on the door.
John Edwards, the former U.S. senator and two-time presidential candidate and former hugely successful lawyer for plaintiffs against major corporations, is said to be lobbying a U.S. District Judge to play a leading role in the private class action lawsuits against Volkswagen over its widespread emissions scandal, according to a report Tuesday from Reuters.
"This case has ingredients I've spent my life working," Edwards told Reuters in an interview. It also has the potential to put him at the forefront of one of the most high-profile legal cases in the world and make him an even wealthier man. Volkswagen could potentially be on the hook for billions in settlements, leading to a generous windfall to the top lawyers involved."

John Edwards (yes, that one) looks to profit from Volkswagen lawsuits in his day job as a lawyer

 

[Skull Pilot]

Well he needs cash for those 400 dollar haircuts

 

[SeniorChief_Polock]

John Edwards - another dick-sucking Liberal hero.

 

[waltky]

VW gonna make good on U.S. emissions scandal...

Volkswagen to offer generous compensation for U.S. customers: fund head
7 Feb.`16 - Volkswagen will offer generous compensation packages to the roughly 600,000 U.S. owners of diesel vehicles whose emissions are over the legal limit, the head of its claims fund told a German paper.

The German car maker has still not decided whether vehicle owners will be offered cash, car buy-backs, repairs or replacement cars, Kenneth Feinberg told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Feinberg previously headed the compensation funds for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill and General Motors' ignition switch crashes. On Friday, Volkswagen postponed the publication of its 2015 results and delayed its annual shareholders' meeting as it struggles to put an exact price on its emissions scandal.

More than four months after the scandal broke in the United States, Europe's leading car maker has still not won approval for a fix for any of the vehicles. Last week it named a new head of its U.S. legal department to help resolve the case. Feinberg told the paper he was unlikely to meet his goal of setting up the claims fund within 60 to 90 days, saying: "My hands are tied as long as VW and the authorities have not overcome their differences."

He said he expected an overwhelming majority to accept the eventual offer, and that VW had given him full authority to set the level. "Look at my prior cases: 97 percent of the victims of Sept. 11 accepted my offer. At GM and BP it was more than 90 percent, too. That has to be my target for VW," Feinberg said. "It is a purely business transaction, less emotional. I see that from emails I get from vehicle owners, who say things like: 'Mr. Feinberg, I know I haven't lost a relative, I just want to be treated fairly.' They are all quite reasonable."

SHARES FALL SHARPLY

 

[initforme]

If they broke our standards, then they should pay. If I were a lawyer I'd love the chance to go after em.

 

[SeniorChief_Polock]

Another liberal golden boy caught with his trousers around his ankles
Fucking typical


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mdk]

John Edwards just needs to go away. What a cad!

 

[whitehall]

Edwards a "greaseball"? What he is doing is legal isn't it? How about the time NBC's "Dateline" faked data related to Chevy truck explosions back in '93? You almost gotta laugh that the media has it rigged so that lawyers sue drug companies for deadly side effects from prescription drugs and on another channel the drug companies are still selling the stuff. Who is at fault, the lawyers or the drug companies or the federal regulators who let this stuff continue on the market?

 

[waltky]

Up to half million cars to be bought back...

VW 'to offer US diesel buy back deal'
Thu, 21 Apr 2016 - Volkswagen may outline a deal on Thursday to buy back up to 500,000 diesel cars in the US, according to reports.

The German car giant has also agreed a compensation fund for owners. VW is expected to reveal the deal to a Federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday. A VW spokeswoman, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department declined to comment. Volkswagen could also offer to repair diesel vehicles if US regulators approve a fix at a future date, reports said.

US District Judge Charles Breyer in March gave VW until Thursday "to announce a concrete proposal for getting the polluting vehicles off the road." Judge Breyer said in March the "proposal may include a vehicle buy back plan or a fix approved by the relevant regulators that allows the cars to remain on the road with certain modifications."

In September last year the Environmental Protection Agency found that VW cars being sold in the US had a "defeat device" - or software - in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, and change the performance to improve results.

Some models could be pumping out up to 40 times the legal limit of the pollutant nitrogen oxide. In March, Volkswagen's boss Matthias Mueller said that a deal with US authorities over its emissions scandal could take longer and cost more than expected. He warned that the €6.7bn (£5.2bn) set aside to cover the costs of the scandal might not be enough.

VW 'to offer diesel buy back deal in US' - BBC News

 

[Silhouette]

The truth of this situation is as follows: Volkswagon I believe is the only company allowed in the US to sell diesel engines for small commuter cars. Those engines get like 50mpg if they aren't clogged down with emissions imposed by the US. Hence this lawsuit...to clog down more...gas commuter cars (BigOil's profits) don't want competition "showing them up"...they want their gravy train uninterrupted...

The problem with choking down any engine with pulleys, drags etc. on smog systems is that they cause that car to burn MORE fuel to get from point A to point B. So MORE emissions get into the environment as a result of the person doing their daily driving. At best they cancel each other out.

And as biofuels keep expanding, the carbon footprint using diesel made with algae biofuels means that algae is pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere in order to produce fuel!

This lawsuit is funded by BigOil. I can virtually guarantee you that..

 

[bucs90]

If ISIS went to war with American ambulance chaser lawyers..........I'd root for ISIS.

 

[FJO]

I thought this guy was in prison.

 

[waltky]

Schmidt charged with conspiracy to defraud...

US Charges Former VW Executive with Conspiracy
January 09, 2017 - A former Volkswagen executive has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States over the company's emissions-cheating scandal.

Oliver Schmidt, who was the general manager of the engineering and environmental office for VW of America, made a brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Miami on Monday following his arrest Saturday in Florida. He did not enter a plea. Schmidt, a German resident, was also charged with wire fraud and for violating the Clean Air Act.

Settlement reportedly is near

Schmidt is the second person to be arrested as part of the ongoing federal investigation into VW, which has admitted that it installed software on as many as 11 million diesel vehicles sold worldwide to circumvent emission tests. The software allowed the vehicles to turn pollution controls on during emission tests and to turn them off during actual driving. Those vehicles emitted up to 40 times the legally allowable pollution levels. U.S. prosecutors accuse Schmidt of lying to regulators who were investigating the discrepancies in emissions.

The Volkswagen Atlas SUV is put on display at the North American International Auto Show​

Volkswagen said in a statement Monday that it is cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department in the investigation. U.S. media is reporting the company is close to agreeing to a multi-billion-dollar fine to settle the criminal case. Another U.S. VW employee, James Liang, was charged in September with misleading regulators about the diesel emissions. He pled guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.

Two new SUVs on display at auto show

The news of the latest charges come as VW is rolling out two new sport utility vehicles at the Detroit auto show. Hinrich Woebcken, VW's chief executive of the North America region, told reporters at the auto show Monday that the company was “surprised” by the criminal charges. He said VW is on a “good path to get things straight.” Many of VW's top management left the company following the scandal, including CEO Martin Winterkorn.

US Charges Former VW Executive with Conspiracy

 

[Silhouette]

I don't feel sorry for Volkswagen, but with lawyers like this, especially this particular one makes me actually root for the company.

John Edwards (yes, that one) looks to profit from Volkswagen lawsuits in his day job as a lawyer


John Edwards (yes, that one) looks to profit from Volkswagen lawsuits in his day job as a lawyer

Volkswagen sold diesel passenger cars in the US that routinely got between 50-60mpg. That's the reason behind all of it. All the rest of it is hype and bullshit. This is about eliminating strong competition and softening the public for the next target: Tesla and other high-efficiency cars. BigOil is pissed. it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that the scuttlebutt about the emissions issue was industrial sabotage...

...and right when we really need Germany as a strong ally. I wonder how long we think we can bitch-slap our allies and still call them to the fore when the mood strikes us?

 

[waltky]

VW emissions cheating scandal deal contains $4.3B in fines...

Volkswagen: Draft deal in scandal contains $4.3B in fines
Jan 10,`17 -- German automaker Volkswagen AG said Tuesday that it was in "advanced talks" with United States authorities over a proposed settlement in its diesel emissions scandal under which the company would pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil fines.

The draft settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Customs and Border Protection would include the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the company's compliance and control measures for three years. A company statement issued Tuesday said that under the proposal Volkswagen would agree to "a guilty plea" to criminal law provisions. The draft needs to be approved by Volkswagen's boards and U.S. courts. Volkswagen said its management board of top executives, which includes CEO Matthias Mueller, and its board of directors would deal with the issue "in the very short term," as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. "A final conclusion of the settlement agreement is further subject to the execution by the competent U.S. authorities and to the approval of the competent U.S. courts," the company said.

The penalties would exceed the amounts Volkswagen has set aside to cover costs from the scandal, but the specific impact on 2016 earnings "cannot be defined at present," the statement said. Volkswagen had already deducted 18.2 billion euros ($19.2 billion) from earnings to account for the expected costs of fines, settlements and recalls. The company has admitted equipping diesel cars with software that turned up emissions controls when the car was being tested, and turned them down during normal driving, improving engine performance but exceeding emission limits.

Volkswagen has reached a $15 billion civil settlement with environmental authorities and car owners in the U.S. under which it agreed to buy back up to 500,000 vehicles. The company also faces an investor lawsuit and criminal probe in Germany. In all, some 11 million vehicles worldwide were equipped with the software. The scandal was revealed in September 2015, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation. CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned and was replaced by Mueller. The company has apologized and brought in U.S. law firm Jones Day to investigate.

Oliver Schmidt, the company's former head of U.S. environmental compliance, was arrested over the weekend in Florida. Another employee, engineer James Liang, has pleaded guilty in the criminal case. In a 2014 agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, Toyota agreed to pay a $1.2 billion fine over unintended acceleration problems. Similarly, General Motors agreed in 2015 to pay $900 million to resolve a deadly ignition-switch scandal, striking a deal with the Justice Department that avoided criminal charges against individual executives.

News from The Associated Press