Frankl v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
A New Jersey state court case filed on behalf of the victim of a rollover accident caused by defective Goodyear tires. During the course of the litigation, discovery related to the defective tires was sealed pursuant to an umbrella protective order that had been stipulated to by the parties without any showing of good cause for secrecy. We moved to intervene and to unseal the discovery materials relating to the defective tires. We won a favorable ruling from the trial court unsealing some of the discovery materials, which was appealed by the defendant. The intermediate state court threw out our challenge on the novel ground that nonparties to a lawsuit lack standing to intervene to unseal discovery materials. The New Jersey Supreme Court granted our petition for review but, unfortunately, the Court affirmed the decision below holding that we had no right to intervene in the case (and, thus, no standing to challenge the sealing of the discovery materials).
Case Documents
Order
Order granting our motion to intervene in the case and directing further briefing on the substantive issue of whether discovery documents should be unsealed. Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County
Docket: MER-L-003052-99Our supplemental brief
Our supplemental brief on behalf of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), arguing that the public interest in this tire safety case continues to grow; that Goodyear must show "good cause" to overcome the presumption of public access to court documents; and citing 15 additional complaints filed with NHTSA since November 1, 2000, regarding Goodyear Load Range E tire tread separations.
Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County
Docket: MER-L-003052-99Our Reply
Our Reply to the Response that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. filed under seal on November 8, to the Brief of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) in Support of its Motion to Intervene, Vacate or Modify Protective Order and Seek Public Access to Documents.
Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County
Docket: MER-L-003052-99Our Reply
Our Reply to the Response that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. filed under seal on November 8, to the Brief of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) in Support of its Motion to Intervene, Vacate or Modify Protective Order and Seek Public Access to Documents.
Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County
Docket: MER-L-003052-99Our brief
Our brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the court to find no preemption in an airbag case.
U.S. Supreme Court
Docket: 98-1811
