Some briefs, orders, and an update from the Ford trial

Many thanks to the blog reader who emailed to update me on the Ford bench trial in Sacramento (Ford Explorer Cases, JCCP nos. 4266 & 4270). I'm told that the plaintiffs rested their case yesterday, on the 31st day of trial; that the judge took Ford's motion for judgment under submission; and that Ford began presenting its defense yesterday afternoon.

I've also received some interesting materials from the case. These trial briefs provide a roadmap to a monetary award under the UCL, offering "three alternative models of calculating the amount of money that Ford acquired, by its wrongful conduct, from members of the class":

• Plaintiffs' Corrected Trial Brief (06/06/07)

• Supplement to Plaintiffs' Corrected Trial Brief Re: Disgorgement of Unjust Profits (07/26/07)

The briefs will be very useful to anyone pursuing a UCL case based on non-disclosures or misleading advertising. Also, here are several of Judge David De Alba's orders, including his orders denying Ford's motions to decertify the class and for summary adjudication:

• Order Granting Class Certification (02/08/05)

• Order Correcting Class Definition and Certifying Corrected Class (05/26/05)

• Order Regarding Class Action Notice Issues (08/29/05)

• Ruling on CLRA "No Merit" Motion (03/07)

• Ruling on Motion for Decertification (03/07)

• Ruling on Motion for Partial Summary Adjudication (03/07)

Thanks again to the blog reader who provided these materials.

Comments

[Jack Payne]

For some reason I am always surprised by the attempts of defendants to "decertify the class" in a case like this. I wonder why this is tried so often. And fails so often.