MINNEAPOLIS, MN—June 20, 2017—Judge Edward Chen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has appointed Robins Kaplan LLP® partner Stacey Slaughter to the nine-member Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in multidistrict litigation against Fiat Chrysler over “defeat devices” that masked vehicles’ true emissions levels.
The vast litigation, which was consolidated into a single complaint in May, alleges that 2014, 2015, and 2016 model-year Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram 1500 trucks, which were advertised as being environmentally friendly, were outfitted with devices that masked their actual emissions levels. It is alleged that Fiat installed engine software in approximately 100,000 trucks that allowed them to produce nitrogen oxide at levels that exceed government emissions standards.
As a member of the committee, Slaughter will be tasked with developing and implementing a litigation plan for the plaintiffs and will collaborate with lead counsel and other committee members on all decision-making, including filing pleadings related to all actions, filing motions or other requests for relief, and conducting investigations to support the plaintiffs’ claims.
Slaughter has represented clients facing significant commercial disputes, complex business problems, and novel legal issues, and had litigated several of the largest, high-profile, and most innovative cases affecting the financial markets and consumers in recent years. One of the most consequential cases she has been involved with is Dahl et al. v. Bain Capital Partners et. al, which alleged a multi-year conspiracy among the country’s largest private equity funds to drive down the prices for leveraged buyouts of publicly traded companies. Defendants in the case—which included many of the largest and most recognized private equity firms, including The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Bain Capital Partners, and The Blackstone Group L.P.—agreed to settlement payments totaling nearly $600 million.
Recently named one of Law360’s 25 Most Influential Women in Securities Law, Slaughter is currently the executive director of the International Financial Litigation Network, a leading global litigation network of more than 40 law firms in 20 countries.
The case is In re Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep EcoDiesel Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability, case number 3:17-md-02777.
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