Overhaul ordered for GM's legal department
Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Automotive News Canada
  • Automotive News Europe
  • Automotive News Mexico
  • Automotive News China
AN-LOGO-BLUE
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • Dealers
    • Automakers & Suppliers
    • News by Brand
    • Cars & Concepts
    • Shift
    • Mobility Report
    • Special Reports
    • Digital Edition Archive
    • This Week's Issue
    • Helping two cultures connect
      SEAT FEAT
      Turn self-driving cars into offices? That'll take 30 years
      The bus stops here
    • Daimler, BMW will invest $1.13 billion in mobility JV to rival Uber
      Lyft plans to file for IPO next week, reports say
      Apple sheds light on safety of its AV program
      GM launches 'Vehicle Locate' app
    • Dealerships owned by ex-NFL stars face collapse, litigation
      Want a luxury car? Try a Kia
      Costly lesson of tortuous legal battle: Get it in writing
      Denny Hecker: A changed man?
    • Access F&I
    • Fixed Ops Journal
    • Marketing
    • Used Cars
    • Sales
    • Best Practices
    • Dealership Buy/Sell
    • NADA
    • NADA Show
    • Automakers
    • Manufacturing
    • Suppliers
    • Regulations & Safety
    • Executives
    • Leading Woman Network
    • PACE Awards
    • CES
    • Management Briefing Seminars
    • World Congress
    • Aston Martin
    • BMW
      • Mini
      • Rolls Royce
    • Daimler
      • Mercedes Benz
      • Smart
    • Fiat Chrysler
      • Alfa Romeo
      • Chrysler
      • Dodge
      • Ferrari
      • Fiat
      • Jeep
      • Maserati
      • Ram
    • Ford
      • Lincoln
    • General Motors
      • Buick
      • Cadillac
      • Chevrolet
      • GMC
      • Holden
    • Honda
      • Acura
    • Hyundai
      • Genesis
      • Kia
    • Mazda
    • Mitsubishi
    • Nissan
      • Infiniti
    • PSA
      • Citroen
      • Opel
      • Peugeot
      • Vauxhall
    • Renault
    • Subaru
    • Suzuki
    • Tata
      • Jaguar
      • Land Rover
    • Tesla
    • Toyota
      • Lexus
    • Volkswagen
      • Audi
      • Bentley
      • Bugatti
      • Lamborghini
      • Porsche
      • Seat
      • Skoda
    • Volvo
    • (Discontinued Brands)
    • Auto Shows
      • Detroit Auto Show
      • New York Auto Show
      • Los Angeles Auto Show
      • Chicago Auto Show
      • Geneva Auto Show
      • Paris Auto Show
      • Frankfurt Auto Show
      • Toronto Auto Show
      • Tokyo Auto Show
      • Shanghai Auto Show
      • Beijing Auto Show
    • Future Product Pipeline
    • Photo Galleries
    • Car Cutaways
    • Design
  • OPINION
    • Blogs
    • Cartoons
    • Keith Crain
    • Automotive Views with Jason Stein
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send us a Letter
    • Is Honda's U.K. plant closure the beginning of a Japanese Brexit?
      Tesla introduces 'Dog Mode' to keep pets cool inside the car
      A GM investment in Rivian would send the wrong messages
      Bad policy, worse political strategy on auto tariffs
    • Dealers need to be ready for anything
      EVs will come with economic cost
      Spend money on sales, not stores
      Put it on your bucket list
    • Feb. 15, 2019: EV startup gets Amazon, GM interest
      Jan. 4, 2019 | Bumpy road ahead for Detroit’s automakers and suppliers?
    • Bad policy, worse political strategy on auto tariffs
      Elaine Chao: A speedier path for innovation
      Drivers for ride-hailing services can be a prime source of fixed ops profits
      Dealers' ads for service techs need major repairs to be effective
    • NADA can help fight stair step incentives
      Let dealers invest in innovation, not renovations
      Hackett's vision for Ford is still a blur
      The last temptation of Elon Musk
    • Cadillac falls short on marketing, luxury
      Thank you, Sting, for Oshawa efforts
      Customer-centric approach set Tesla apart
      Deeper issues in tech shortage
  • DATA CENTER
  • VIDEO
    • AutoNews Now
    • First Shift
    • Special Video Reports
    • Weekend Drive
  • EVENTS & AWARDS
    • Events
    • Awards
    • World Congress
    • Retail Forum: NADA
    • Canada Congress
    • Marketing 360: L.A.
    • Europe Congress
    • Fixed Ops Journal Forum
    • Retail Forum: Chicago
    • Leading Women Conference Detroit
    • 100 Leading Woman
    • 40 Under 40 Retail
    • All-Stars
    • Best Dealership To Work For
    • PACE Awards
    • Rising Stars
    • Europe Rising Stars
  • JOBS
  • +MORE
    • Webinars
    • Leading Women Network
    • Custom Features
    • Classifieds
    • People on the Move
    • Newsletters
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
    • Ally: Do It Right
    • Guide To Economic Development
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Executives
June 05, 2014 01:00 AM

Overhaul ordered for GM's legal department

Gabe Nelson
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    GM General Counsel Michael Millikin: Board has asked him to stay, Reuters reported.

    WASHINGTON -- General Motors says its top attorney has survived today’s wave of firings, but outside investigator Anton Valukas is calling for a sweeping overhaul of GM’s legal department based on its handling of the ignition switch crisis.

    Valukas’ report, released today, suggests a chronic lack of communication between GM’s attorneys and safety engineers -- and within the department itself.

    Outside counsel warned GM’s legal department multiple times through the years “that GM could be accused of egregious conduct,” the report says. And yet, it concludes, General Counsel Michael Millikin didn’t learn of the defect until the end of 2013, even after his department settled lawsuits involving the defective part.

    “Until the recall decision was made in 2014, he had not been informed of the lengthy review of the Cobalt’s ignition switch issue in which GM lawyer Bill Kemp had participated for years,” the Valukas report says. “He also had been unaware of the litigation involving fatal accidents by Cobalt drivers.”

    Speaking to reporters today, GM CEO Mary Barra said the list of 15 employees separated from GM doesn’t include Millikin, who has worked for GM since 1977 and became general counsel in 2009.

    The GM board asked Millikin to stay beyond the mandatory retirement age of 65, a GM spokesman told Reuters today.

    The list of 15 departures does include Kemp, who could not explain in interviews with Valukas’ investigators why he had not told his boss about the ignition switch problems. He is no longer with the company, two sources told Automotive News.

    Lawrence Buonomo, a senior GM lawyer who oversaw product-liability cases, has also left GM with the release of the report's findings, a source familiar with the matter said.

    Buonomo headed committees beginning in March 2012 that decided how GM would settle lawsuits filed by accident victims, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Journal first disclosed Buonomo's departure late Thursday.

    According to his Linkedin profile, Buonomo joined GM in August 1994 and handled commercial and class action litigation, as well as supplier insolvency and restructuring matters. He had also served as the administrative head of GM's in-house litigation team.

    One of the committees chaired by Buonomo, the Roundtable, existed to evaluate legal claims, but a number of lawyers said it also served to detect safety problems, The Journal reported, citing the Valukas report.

    The report signaled Buonomo out as a lawyer who didn’t share that view of the Roundtable committee's primary role.

    “Buonomo, for example, said that it was not the Roundtable’s function to spot trends and that if a lawyer had to flag a trend, then the system had already failed,” the report states.

    Valukas’ advice for fixing the legal department includes regular meetings between the global vehicle safety team and the legal team, regular talks between product litigation attorneys and the litigation manager about safety trends, and making one attorney a safety watchdog for the legal department.

    Among the problems he identified:

    -- GM attorneys reached settlements without telling the boss.

    At one point, GM attorneys struck a $5 million settlement with a plaintiff over the defective ignition switch, but didn’t tell Millikin about it; $5 million is the largest settlement that GM allowed mid-level legal managers like Kemp to authorize without getting permission from the general counsel.

    -- GM attorneys ignored the advice of outside counsel.

    The report says that in July 2013, outside legal counsel warned GM attorneys that plaintiffs could make a “compelling” case that GM had known about the defect since 2005 and “essentially has done nothing to correct the problem for the last nine years.”

    No one told the general counsel at any point, and Delphi, which supplied the defective part, wasn’t contacted for another three months.

    -- Engineers got the impression that lawyers wanted them to keep quiet.

    A presentation first released last month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that engineers were encouraged to avoid words like “problem,” “safety” and “defect,” and instead use phrases like “does not perform to design.”

    Valukas’ investigation also found that GM employees didn’t take notes at many safety meetings “because they believed GM lawyers did not want such notes taken.” There is no record of such an order, but it reached the level of “urban myth,” so for many meetings, investigators do not know who attended or what was discussed.

    Mike Colias of Automotive News and Reuters contributed to this report.

    Related Articles
    GM's big blunder: missing the link between stalling, airbags
    GM dismisses 15 employees as 'deeply troubling' recall probe is released
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Digital Edition
    THIS WEEK'S EDITION
    See our archive
    Fixed Ops Journal
    Thumbnail
    Read the issue
    See our archive
    Sign up for free newsletters
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get Free Newsletters

    Sign up and get the best of Automotive News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Now

    Get access to in-depth, authoritative coverage of the auto industry from a global team of reporters and editors covering the news that's vital to your business.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    Our Mission

    The Automotive News mission is to be the primary source of industry news, data and understanding for the industry's decision-makers interested in North America.

    AN-LOGO-BLUE
    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit, Michigan
    48207-2997

    (877) 812-1584

    Email us

    Resources
    • About us
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
    • Subscribe
    • Manage your account
    • Reprints
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    Copyright © 1996-2019. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • HOME
    • NEWS
      • Dealers
        • Access F&I
        • Fixed Ops Journal
        • Marketing
        • Used Cars
        • Sales
        • Best Practices
        • Dealership Buy/Sell
        • NADA
        • NADA Show
      • Automakers & Suppliers
        • Automakers
        • Manufacturing
        • Suppliers
        • Regulations & Safety
        • Executives
        • Leading Woman Network
        • PACE Awards
        • CES
        • Management Briefing Seminars
        • World Congress
      • News by Brand
        • Aston Martin
        • BMW
          • Mini
          • Rolls Royce
        • Daimler
          • Mercedes Benz
          • Smart
        • Fiat Chrysler
          • Alfa Romeo
          • Chrysler
          • Dodge
          • Ferrari
          • Fiat
          • Jeep
          • Maserati
          • Ram
        • Ford
          • Lincoln
        • General Motors
          • Buick
          • Cadillac
          • Chevrolet
          • GMC
          • Holden
        • Honda
          • Acura
        • Hyundai
          • Genesis
          • Kia
        • Mazda
        • Mitsubishi
        • Nissan
          • Infiniti
        • PSA
          • Citroen
          • Opel
          • Peugeot
          • Vauxhall
        • Renault
        • Subaru
        • Suzuki
        • Tata
          • Jaguar
          • Land Rover
        • Tesla
        • Toyota
          • Lexus
        • Volkswagen
          • Audi
          • Bentley
          • Bugatti
          • Lamborghini
          • Porsche
          • Seat
          • Skoda
        • Volvo
        • (Discontinued Brands)
      • Cars & Concepts
        • Auto Shows
          • Detroit Auto Show
          • New York Auto Show
          • Los Angeles Auto Show
          • Chicago Auto Show
          • Geneva Auto Show
          • Paris Auto Show
          • Frankfurt Auto Show
          • Toronto Auto Show
          • Tokyo Auto Show
          • Shanghai Auto Show
          • Beijing Auto Show
        • Future Product Pipeline
        • Photo Galleries
        • Car Cutaways
        • Design
      • Shift
      • Mobility Report
      • Special Reports
      • Digital Edition Archive
      • This Week's Issue
    • OPINION
      • Blogs
      • Cartoons
      • Keith Crain
      • Automotive Views with Jason Stein
      • Columnists
      • Editorials
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Send us a Letter
    • DATA CENTER
    • VIDEO
      • AutoNews Now
      • First Shift
      • Special Video Reports
      • Weekend Drive
    • EVENTS & AWARDS
      • Events
        • World Congress
        • Retail Forum: NADA
        • Canada Congress
        • Marketing 360: L.A.
        • Europe Congress
        • Fixed Ops Journal Forum
        • Retail Forum: Chicago
        • Leading Women Conference Detroit
      • Awards
        • 100 Leading Woman
        • 40 Under 40 Retail
        • All-Stars
        • Best Dealership To Work For
        • PACE Awards
        • Rising Stars
        • Europe Rising Stars
    • JOBS
    • +MORE
      • Webinars
      • Leading Women Network
      • Custom Features
        • Ally: Do It Right
        • Guide To Economic Development
      • Classifieds
      • People on the Move
      • Newsletters
      • Contact Us
      • Media Kit