6/29/10
UPDATE:
Bill Kershaw is co-lead class counsel in the matter of
Bayshore Ford Truck Sales, Inc. v. Ford Motor Company.
This case was filed on behalf of a class of former Ford heavy truck dealers and is pending before the Honorable Jose L. Linares in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey.
In September 2006, Mr. Kershaw and his co-counsel were successful in getting the case certified as a class action. Then, after several more years of fierce litigation, class counsel sought and obtained a liability finding in favor of the certified class. Specifically, on November 16, 2009, Judge Linares granted partial summary judgment against Ford, finding that Ford had breached its contract with its former heavy truck dealers. The only question remaining at the trial court level is how much Ford must pay in damages to class members. In that regard, Judge Linares has also ordered that damages must be proven on an individual basis rather than a single class action trial. Accordingly, a schedule has been adopted for the individual damages trials of the first group of ten dealers. Although no trial date has been set, the final pre-trial conference is scheduled for December 7, 2010.