Kirkwood v. General Motors; product liability
Lawrence Baron pursued one of the most storied product liability cases in recent years in Oregon. He sought justice on behalf of Ann Kirkwood, a burn victim from Madras, Oregon. Kirkwood nearly died in a firey crash when her car collided with 1976 GM pickup truck with sidesaddle gas tanks. Her granddaughter, seated next to her, was killed by the fire and her granddaughter's half-brother, in the back seat, suffered severe burns. Upon collision, the gas tanks exploded and Kirkwood's vehicle was engulfed in flames.

At the time of the collision, the sidesaddle gas tanks were a known defect in the design of certain years of GM trucks. An effort was underway to recall the trucks. They had been estimated to have burned or killed hundreds of people nationally.

Because the defective GM truck was more than 8 years old when the collision occurred, Oregon law had to be changed to allow Kirkwood to claim damages against the Detroit manufacturer. Baron went to work on the burn victim's behalf. He hired a lobbyist and was successful in passing a special state amendment that allowed cases against "sidesaddle gas tanks."

GM hired 18 lawyers to fight the case, but finally settled on January 10, 1997, ten days before the trial was to begin. Details of the settlement are confidential. For his efforts, Baron was recognized as 1997 National Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. In presenting the award, the organization said Baron took on a case that virtually no one else would have pursued. Baron acknowledged the efforts of the many individuals who assisted him, not only Kirkwood and her family but also his co-counsel, Paul Whelan and Mike Withey.

Day v. Winnebago; product liability
Traveling with his wife in the couple’s motor home was an ideal lifestyle for William Day. Unfortunately, a dangerous manufacturing defect in his RV led to an unforeseen and seriously debilitating, accident.

Day was injured in his Winnebago Itasca Meridian motor home during a 2004 trip to Arizona to visit his son-in-law. He was putting away shoes in a storage area under the bed in the Winnebago’s bedroom area when a heavy board –  that held up the bed’s air mattress – fell on him, pushing him down on the floor and tearing the rotator cuff of his left shoulder. Day’s torn rotator cuff was the most severe his doctor had ever seen.

Although Day underwent surgery to repair his injured shoulder,  the shoulder never healed properly. “I’m still in a great deal of pain, and it just gets worse as I get older,” Day says.

After asking the advice of workers at his local courthouse, Day decided to retain Larry Baron to bring a claim against Winnebago. During the course of the subsequent investigation, Baron discovered that the board that landed on Day was secured by only four wood screws.  Also, the screws were most likely never tightened properly during assembly. When Day moved the board to gain access to the storage area, the board simply ripped loose of its foundation. This defect was only one of many plaguing the vehicle. During his brief ownership of the Winnebago, Day had to take it to the dealer, La Mesa RV in Portland, for numerous repairs.  Many of those repairs, including several to the bed area in question, were proven by Baron to have been performed in a substandard manner.

Baron visited many retail RV sales centers as he prepared Day’s complaint. He discovered that Winnebago’s competitors designed their storage areas differently.  Other companies used additional screws and incorporated a safer design to ensure a secure connection between the board and its foundation. In fact, Winnebago used a different design in its other coach models. Upon being presented with this information, Winnebago decided to settle the Day’s claim.

Day is thankful for Baron’s determined approach to hold Winnebago responsible for its shoddy workmanship. “Larry really went after them. He was like a bulldog,” Day says. “I’m glad Larry was on my side.”

Day continues to enjoy being a “fulltime RVer” despite suffering from lingering pain in his shoulder. A former longtime Oregon resident, he now lives in Washington with his wife Karleen and takes pleasure in driving around the country.

Kevin Odom always valued his his 1978 Chevy Scottsdale pickup truck. He was a self-described “pick-up kind of guy.” However, he did not realize a defect was hidden in the vehcle that was just waiting to reveal itself one night several years ago.

As Odom drove on a rural Marion County road one evening, a Buick Regal ran a stop sign and slammed into the side of his pickup truck, pushing it across the road into a ditch, where it burst into flames. Odom was farthest from the flames, while his passengers wlere dangerously exposed.

Odom realized that the passenger to his immediate right was dazed and struggling with her seat belt, while the other passenger appeared to be unconscious. Thanks to Odom’s tremendous courage and selfless conduct, he was able to reach through the flames and lift both passengers from the vehicle. “I was lucky to get out of the accident in decent shape, but both of my friends were badly hurt,” Odom recalls.

Odom and his friends had joined hundreds of others as victims of GM’s C/K pickup trucks fitted with unsafe sidesaddle gas tanks. Due to a defective design, the C/K’s sidesaddle tanks can burst into flames when moderate to severe collisions occur. The tank design was installed in over 10 million trucks GM pickups from 1973 to 1987 and is the worst auto crash fire defect in the history of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Odom was fortunate that his burns and other injuries were relatively minor. However, he suffered serious psychological trauma. Odom, a Salem resident, was referred to Larry Baron’s office by another attorney. Baron helped Odom file a complaint against GM, alleging significant emotional distress. Rather than fight the claim in court, GM agreed to an out of court settlement.

Odom was pleased with the personal attention he received from Baron. “I was very happy with the outcome of my case and I’ve recommended Larry many times,” he says. “Larry and his staff were always available when I had questions.”

Odom believes his case against GM has helped hold the company accountable for the defective design of his pickup.