DENNIS SPEERLY; JOSEPH SIERCHIO; DARRIN DEGRAND; DANIEL DRAIN; WAVERS SMITH; RICHARD FREEMAN; CHRISTOPHER GILES; LOUIS RAY; RICHARD SULLIVAN; JAMES NORVELL; MICHAEL BANKS; GUY CLARK; MARIA BARALLARDOS; CARY SHERROW; JASON KEVIN SINCLAIR; KIMBERLY COULSON; TROY COULSON; ANDRE MCQUADE; DONALD DYKSHORN; TAIT THOMAS; JAMES PAUL BROWNE; WILLIAM FREDO; JON ELLARD; RHIANNA MEYERS; RANDALL JACOBS; MICHAEL PONDER; PHILIP WEEKS; KATRINA FREDO; JIMMY FLOWERS; STEVEN BRACK; KEVIN WESLEY; BRIAN LLOYD; GREGORY BUTSCHA; JERRY CARROLL; KIMBERLY CARROLL; DOMINIC EATHERTON; THOMAS EDMONDSON; RICHARD FILIAGGI; ROBERT HIGGINS; DAVID THOMPSON; DONALD SICURA v. GENERAL MOTORS, LLC - Articles

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DENNIS SPEERLY; JOSEPH SIERCHIO; DARRIN DEGRAND; DANIEL DRAIN; WAVERS SMITH; RICHARD FREEMAN; CHRISTOPHER GILES; LOUIS RAY; RICHARD SULLIVAN; JAMES NORVELL; MICHAEL BANKS; GUY CLARK; MARIA BARALLARDOS; CARY SHERROW; JASON KEVIN SINCLAIR; KIMBERLY COULSON; TROY COULSON; ANDRE MCQUADE; DONALD DYKSHORN; TAIT THOMAS; JAMES PAUL BROWNE; WILLIAM FREDO; JON ELLARD; RHIANNA MEYERS; RANDALL JACOBS; MICHAEL PONDER; PHILIP WEEKS; KATRINA FREDO; JIMMY FLOWERS; STEVEN BRACK; KEVIN WESLEY; BRIAN LLOYD; GREGORY BUTSCHA; JERRY CARROLL; KIMBERLY CARROLL; DOMINIC EATHERTON; THOMAS EDMONDSON; RICHARD FILIAGGI; ROBERT HIGGINS; DAVID THOMPSON; DONALD SICURA v. GENERAL MOTORS, LLC

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 27, 2025

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED EN BANC: Richard C. Godfrey, QUINN, EMANUEL, URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: Douglas J. McNamara, COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL, PLLC, Washington, D.C., for Appellees.

Attorneys 3: ON SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF: Richard C. Godfrey, R. Allan Pixton, QUINN, EMANUEL, URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP, Chicago, Illinois, John F. Bash, QUINN, EMANUEL, URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP, Austin, Texas, Stephanie A. Douglas, BUSH SEYFERTH PLLC, Troy, Michigan, Renee D. Smith, Cole T. Carter, KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP, Chicago, Illinois, Jason M. Wilcox, KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.

Attorneys 4: ON SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF: Douglas J. McNamara, Karina Puttieva Madelyn Petersen, COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL, PLLC, Washington, D.C., Theodore J. Leopold, COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL PLLC, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for Appellees.

Attorneys 5: ON AMICI BRIEFS: John M. Thomas, DYKEMA GOSSETT PLLC, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Kyle M. Asher, DYKEMA GOSSETT PLLC, Lansing, Michigan, Aaron D. Van Oort, John L. Rockenbach, FAEGRE DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Brian D. Schmalzbach, MCGUIRE WOODS LLP, Richmond, Virginia, Philip S. Goldberg, SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P., Washington, D.C., Stephen A. D’Aunoy, KLEIN THOMAS LEE & FRESARD, St. Louis, Missouri, Brandon L. Boxler, KLEIN THOMAS LEE & FRESARD, Richmond, Virginia, Wendy Liu, PUBLIC CITIZEN LITIGATION GROUP, Washington, D.C., William Alvarado Rivera, AARP FOUNDATION, Washington, D.C., David J. Shea, SHEA LAW, PLLC, Southfield, Michigan, Adam J. Levitt, John E. Tangren, DICELLO LEVITT LLP, Chicago, Illinois, Jason L. Lichtman, LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN, LLP, New York, New York, for Amici Curiae.

Judge(s): UTTON, Chief Judge; MOORE, COLE, CLAY, GRIFFIN, KETHLEDGE, STRANCH, THAPAR, BUSH, LARSEN, NALBANDIAN, READLER, MURPHY, MATHIS, BLOOMEKATZ, and RITZ, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit

SUTTON, Chief Judge. With the introduction of automatic transmissions in cars, clutch pedals became obsolete for drivers who do not enjoy using a stick shift. General Motors’ Hydra- Matic became the first readily accessible automatic transmission on the market in 1939. It had four gears. From 2015 to 2018, GM offered an eight-gear Hydra-Matic transmission. That version had two alleged problems. It led some GM cars occasionally to shudder, and it led some GM cars occasionally to lurch. The two problems had nothing to do with operator error, even if some of the symptoms called to mind the experience of getting a ride from a novice stick- shift driver. A group of car buyers filed a class action against GM to answer for the two defects under a range of state common law and statutory theories: express warranty, implied warranty, consumer protection laws, and fraudulent omission. The district court certified 26 state-wide subclasses with a total of 59 state-law claims on behalf of roughly 800,000 individual car buyers. Because the subclasses do not meet the rigorous requirements for handling all of these cases in one district court, whether as one case or as 26 cases, we vacate the class-certification order.

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