Womack v. Nissan North America, Inc

Mr. Holmes and his team filed suit against Nissan in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in November of 2006. In response to Womack v. Nissan North America, Inc, Nissan immediately requested that the Court dismiss the case. Nissan argued that it had not violated the federal odometer act and that Rebecca Womack had no standing to bring the suit because she had not yet been damaged by her odometer error. In fact, Nissan actually argued that Ms. Womack had benefited from the accelerated odometer in her Altima because it had fewer miles on it than she thought when she bought it. In other words, she should be thanking us rather than suing us.

Not surprisingly, the Honorable David Folsom rejected all of Nissan's arguments. In a well-reasoned, 14 page opinion, Judge Folsom found that Ms. Womack had alleged sufficient injury to bring suit against Nissan and that there was no basis for Nissan's contention that she could never prevail in this case. Ms. Womack has not, Judge Folsom reasoned, alleged a "mere possibility of future product failure but a quantifiable fraud: inflated mileage."

The Womack Team is now awaiting a scheduling conference before Judge Folsom. That hearing should take place in the next 6-12 weeks. At that time, the Court will establish a schedule for the disposition of the case. We expect that schedule to encompass 6-12 months of discovery and briefing before Judge Folsom decides whether the case should proceed as a class action

On November 5, 2007, Mr. Holmes's litigation team appeared before the Honorable United States District Judge David Folsom for a hearing on various motions and to establish a litigation schedule. Judge Folsom granted Mr. Holmes's request to perform expedited discovery relative to the Court's exercise of jurisdiction over Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. of Japan and order the parties to begin discovery on the merits of the plaintiff's case. He also established a date of November 20, 2008 to decide whether the case should proceed as a class action.

To view Judge's opinion Click